Looking to continue their fine run of form and move out of the drop zone, Giresunspor take a trip to the Kamil Ocak Stadium to lock horns with Gaziantep FK on Saturday.

The hosts, on the other hand, failed to move into the top half of the table last time out when they lost to Hatayspor and will be looking to quickly bounce back to winning ways.

Match preview

Gaziantep were denied a second straight win in the Turkish top flight last Monday when they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Hatayspor at the Hatay Ataturk Stadium.

Following an uneventful first half, the game was sparked into life in the second half as the hosts raced to a two-goal lead through Mame Biram Diouf and Mohammed Kesselly Kamara before Angelo Sagal halved the deficit with eight minutes left to play.

This followed an emphatic 4-1 victory over Altay, where they hit four goals after the interval to cap off a stellar second-half performance when the sides squared off on October 3.

After a shaky start to the season where they picked up one point from their opening three games, Erol Bulut's side have won three and picked up one draw from their subsequent six games and this decent run has seen them rise to 12th place in the Super Lig table.

While Gaziantep will be looking to quickly return to winning ways and move into the top half of the table, they take on an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in three of their last four attempts, losing one and picking up two draws in that time.

Newly-promoted Giresunspor, on the other hand, continued their rise from the drop zone last time out when they claimed a 2-0 win over Caykur Rizespor at the Cotanak Spor Kompleksi.

In a game where Tyler Boyd received an early bath in the 12th minute, Selim Ay scored an own goal in the 62nd minute before substitute Joe Champness made sure of the result with a 94th-minute strike.

After picking up one point from their opening six games, the Cotanaklar are now unbeaten in each of their most recent three, picking up two wins and one draw while scoring four goals and keeping two clean sheets in that time.

Despite steering his side into an impressive turnaround, Hakan Keles will need to address his side's frailties at the attacking end of the pitch sooner rather than later as they boast the division's worst record with just five goals scored.

Team News

Gaziantep will once again have to cope without 27-year-old Jefferson after the Brazilian midfielder sustained an injury in the game against Basaksehir on September 22.

He is joined on the club's injury table by the Turkish midfield duo of Enver Cenk Sahin and Recep Niyaz, who are currently recuperating from their respective injuries.

Polish defender Pawel Olkowski is also set to miss his ninth consecutive game after coming off with a groin injury against Fatih Karagumruk back in August.

As for Giresunspor, Erol Can Akdag remains their only concern on the injury front after the 25-year-old midfielder sustained an injury against Fenerbahce on September 23.

Champness staked his claim for his first start of the season after coming off the bench to complete the rout against Caykur Rizespor last time out and the 24-year-old could come in for Mehmet Umut Nayir, who has failed to find the back of the net in eight appearances this season.

Gaziantep possible starting lineup:
Guvenc; Ceylan, Caulker, Djilobodji, Pehlivan; Merkel, Niyaz; Figueiredo, El Messaoudi, Sagal; Demir

Giresunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Yavru, Diarra, Perez, Behich; Traore, Suleymanov, Flavio; Serginho, Doukara, Champness

We say: Gaziantep 1-2 Giresunspor

After stumbling into the new season, newly-promoted Giresunspor appear to have hit their stride in the big leagues. They head into the game as the more in-form side, claiming two wins and one draw from their last three games and we predict they will maintain this fine form and come away with all three points, albeit by a slender margin.

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