Istanbul Basaksehir host Pendikspor in the Super Lig on Monday in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides.

Both clubs are currently embroiled in a relegation battle, with the 2020 Turkish champions suffering a dramatic falloff compared to some of their recent seasons.

Match preview

Basaksehir's season is still yet to take off after a woeful start, as they remain in the relegation zone and cannot move out of it this weekend.

Emre Belozoglu was replaced by Cagdas Atan early in the season, and after losing five of their first six games, it seemed as though Basaksehir were getting back on track with three straight clean sheets in October.

However, results have not picked up, as they have taken just two points from a possible 12, drawing three blanks in that time.

That unsurprisingly leaves Basaksehir as the league's lowest scorers with just eight after 12 matches, and only two players with more than one goal.

After being cup finalists last season and finishing just one place outside the European places, Basaksehir are now one of the favourites to go down.

Konyaspor's 2-0 win over Kasimpasa on Saturday has extended the gap to four points between Basaksehir and safety.

That result also saw Konyaspor jump above Pendikspor, meaning they are now hovering just above the drop zone.

The newly-promoted side are performing above expectations, though, as recent weeks have brought a very eye-catching set of results.

Only the top two, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, and Sivasspor have taken more points away from home than Pendikspor so far this season.

That is helped massively by the fact Ivo Vieira's side have won their last two on the road - a 2-1 success at Konyaspor before beating Basaksehir's city rivals Istanbulspor 4-2.

Pendikspor also claimed their first home win of the season in their last outing too, beating Samsunspor 1-0, to lift them four points clear of the drop zone heading into the international break.

It took them nine games to get their first win, and now they have three in four, but defensive woes remain a glaring issue, as they have the league's leakiest defence, having conceded 25 goals in their 12 games so far, not helped by 5-1 and 5-0 home defeats to Hatayspor and Fenerbahce, respectively.

Team News

There are multiple defensive injuries hurting the Basaksehir squad at present, with Edgar Ie, Omer Ali Sahiner and Efe Arda Koyuncu all out injured.

Sahiner returned in October, but played just six minutes against Samsunspor and has been absent with a muscular problem since.

Danijel Aleksic and Patryk Szysz are also sidelined, along with goalkeeper Muhammed Sengezer, who briefly kept current number one Volkan Babacan out of the side when he was fit earlier this season.

Pendikspor are without their two first-choice striking options, with Ahmed Hassan and Emeka Eze both set to miss out.

Hassan arrived injured from Olympiacos, but after recovering to make his debut in the win at Konyaspor, he lasted just 58 minutes and has been absent since.

Oscar Romero and Emre Tasdemir are also both struggling with muscle issues and are set to miss out again here for the visitors.

Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Babacan; Dubois, Ba, Leo Duarte, Opoku; Pelkas, Tekdemir, Ozcan; Dennis, Piatek, Gurler

Pendikspor possible starting lineup:
Canpolat; Ozgenc, Welinton, Rassoul, Sequeira; Lusamba, Akdag, Midtsjo; Diaby, Yardimci, Akbunar

We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 0-1 Pendikspor

In a battle between two sides destined to be in a relegation battle, fine margins are likely to be decisive, and Basaksehir's inability to find the net with regularity could be costly.

Pendikspor come into the game on the back of two straight away wins as well as three victories in their last four, and they may be able to nick the three points again against an out-of-sorts Basaksehir side.


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