Gaziantep go in pursuit of their first victory in four head-to-head matches when Erol Bulut's side welcome Besiktas to the Gaziantep Stadium on Sunday.

The Black Eagles sit only two points outside the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification positions, while the hosts have only registered a quartet of league wins this season.

Match preview

Gaziantep occupied themselves with a hat-trick of friendly matches throughout the 2022 FIFA World Cup, beginning with a 3-1 victory over Al-Batin on December 5, followed by a 1-0 win against Konyaspor five days later courtesy of Alexandru Maxim's strike moments before half time.

However, in their final friendly encounter, Bulut's side suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Hatayspor last Wednesday, with Lazar Markovic's goal only a consolation following a first-half brace from Bertug Yildirim.

The hosts were last involved in league action on November 13 when Bulut's side surrendered a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw with Fatih Karagumruk despite taking a 2-0 lead within the opening 20 minutes after goals from Ertugrul Ersoy and Joao Figueiredo.

Gaziantep were most recently involved in the fifth round of the Turkish Cup on Thursday, successfully progressing to the round of 16 after a 3-1 win over Boluspor, thanks to goals from Maxim, Ersoy and Markovic.

Like Gaziantep, Besiktas progressed to the last 16 of the Cup after a 4-2 victory over Sanliurfaspor on Wednesday. A second-half brace from Cenk Tosun, alongside goals from Georges-Kevin N'Koudou and the returning Wout Weghorst, were enough to see The Black Eagles take their place in the next round.

With no European engagements for the first time since 2013, the Turkish football powerhouse have underperformed this season, registering only six victories from 13 league matches.

Besiktas were involved in no less than five friendlies throughout Qatar's end-of-year winter spectacle, with Senol Gunes's side emerging victorious in four of those matches.

The Black Eagles began their quintet of matches on November 29 with a 4-0 success over Istanbulspor, courtesy of strikes from Nathan Redmond, the aforementioned Tosun, Kerem Kesgin and Dele Alli.

Following their convincing win, Besiktas were held to a 1-1 draw by fellow Turkish Super Lig outfit Fatih Karagumruk three days later, but returned to winning ways with victories over Belgian Pro League duo Charleroi (2-1) and Westerlo (1-0) the following week.

The Black Eagles ended their 16-day mini-friendly schedule with a 5-3 win over Giresunspor on December 15 after a first-half penalty from N'Koudou, either side of a brace from Gedson Fernandes and the in-form Tosun.

Team News

Senol Gunes could welcome defender Romain Saiss back into the Besiktas defence after leading his nation to a famous fourth-placed finish at the 2022 World Cup finals.

After coming on at the start of the second half against Sanliurfaspor, Wout Weghorst could be restored to The Black Eagles' side after scoring six goals and providing four assists in 13 league matches this season.

After finding the back of the net on five occasions in his last three matches across all competitions, Cenk Tosun should be primed to lead the line alongside Weghorst.

After making several changes to his side for the cup match against Boluspor, Gaziantep manager Erol Bulut could recall goalkeeper Gunay Guvenc, defender Matej Hanousek and forward Angelo Sagal to his starting XI.

Barring any unforeseen injuries, top scorer Joao Figueiredo is expected to line up in the final third alongside Romania international Alexandru Maxim and Sagal.

Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Djilobodji, Ersoy, Tosca; Kitsiou, Merkel, Jevtovic, Hanousek; Sagal, Figueiredo, Maxim

Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Destanoglu; Rosier, Uysal, Sanuc, Meras; Hutchinson, Ucan, Fernandes, N'Koudou; Tosun, Weghorst

We say: Gaziantep 1-3 Besiktas

With Besiktas potentially able to call upon the services of Romain Saiss and Wout Weghorst after their expeditions in Qatar, The Black Eagles should have enough to overcome Gaziantep and continue their aspiration of participating in Europe next season.

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