Two teams who could really do with a win at the moment go head to head in round 17 of the 2023-24 Turkish Super Lig season, as Gaziantep welcome Adana Demirspor to the Gaziantep Stadyumu on Tuesday.
The hosts have been beaten in three of their last four matches, while the visitors are winless in five consecutive outings across all competitions.
Match preview
Gaziantep suffered a third league defeat on the bounce as they came away empty-handed from their meeting against Trabzonspor on Sunday afternoon.
Two goals from Trezeguet either side of Anastasios Bakasetas's strike left Marius Sumudica's men with a mountain to climb, after which Denis Dragus pulled one back 10 minutes from time.
Consequently, the Hawks have dropped down to 15th place in the Turkish Super Lig table and are now just one point clear of the relegation zone.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have only lost one of the most recent seven editions of this fixture, winning five of the other six.
Currently with the joint second-worst attacking record on home turf in the division, Tuesday's hosts will need to up the ante at the top end of the pitch if they are to emerge victorious here.
Adana Demirspor fell to a comprehensive 3-1 defeat against defending champions Galatasaray in Friday's encounter between the teams at Rams Park.
Serkan Damla's men conceded quick-fire goals to Sacha Boey and Kerem Akturkoglu but managed to halve the deficit through M'Baye Niang, after which Mauro Icardi put the result beyond doubt.
With 23 points picked up 15 matches so far, the Blue Lightnings sit sixth in the standings but are just three points shy of Trabzonspor in the race for the final European spot.
Winless in 10 consecutive matches on the road leading up to Tuesday, the visitors will be keen to turn their away fortunes around and secure a first triumph since June.
Team News
Gaziantep's Ulas Zengin remains sidelined with a long-term leg injury, which has seen him fail to feature since the second week of July.
Denis Dragus found the back of the net on his return to action for the hosts and is expected to retain his place in the starting lineup.
Mario Balotelli is unavailable for Adana as he continues to nurse a knee injury, while Andreaw Gravillon is yet to fully recuperate from a muscle problem.
With four goals in his last six matches for the away side, M'Baye Niang has been on fire of late and is definitely one to keep an eye on here.
Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Nita; Morais, Djilobodji, N'Koulou, Eskihellac; Bikel, Ozcicek, Maxim; Markovic, Dragus, Caglayan
Adana Demirspor possible starting lineup:
Mahammadaliyev; Erdogan, Cisse, Guler, Svensson; Ndiaye, Akbaba; Nani, Belhanda, Sari; Niang
We say: Gaziantep 1-2 Adana Demirspor
Given their record in this fixture, Adana Demirspor will fancy themselves to come out on top, and we can see the visitors getting the job done at the sound of the final whistle, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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