Separated by just two points in the league standings, Konyaspor and Fatih Karagumruk face off at the Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium on Saturday.

The home side will be looking to bounce back from a first defeat in five games last time out, while their visitors go in search of consecutive victories having returned to winning ways last time out.

Match preview

Konyaspor saw their four-match unbeaten streak come to an end against Sivasspor in a 1-0 defeat at the Yeni 4 Eylul Stadyumu on Tuesday evening.

Aleksandar Stanojevic's men conceded a first-half opener to Leke James and that turned out to be the all-important moment in a nervy contest.

As a result, the Anatolian Eagles remain seventh in the Turkish Super Lig table, a whopping 17 points adrift of Adana Demirspor in fourth place.

Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who just about have the upper hand in this fixture, having won three and lost two of the previous six meetings between the teams.

Unbeaten in all but one of their last seven home outings, Saturday's hosts have proven themselves to be a tough nut to crack in front of their fans.

Fatih Karagumruk snapped a run of two straight losses with a routine 2-0 victory over Kayserispor at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.

Two first-half goals from Kerim Frei in a 12-minute spell secured all three points for Alparslan Erdem's men in a largely one-sided affair.

Picking up 47 points from their 34 games so far, the Kara Kirmizi sit ninth in the standings and would overtake this weekend's opponents should they emerge triumphant.

Off the back of a first away defeat in six outings in their most recent away game, Saturday's hosts now set out to avoid back to back defeats on the road for the first time in over a year.

Team News

Konyaspor's Endri Cekici is out of contention for the seventh game on the bounce with a damaged foot, while Muhammet Demir also misses out due to a knee problem.

Currently without an appearance in over three months, Uche Ikpeazu is still facing an extended spell on the sidelines through a muscle injury.

Nineteen-year-old Efecan Mizrakci is a guaranteed absentee for Karagumruk as he continues to battle with an ankle injury which he picked up in December.

The away side will also be without the services of Efe Tatli and Matteo Ricci, who are ruled out of action through knee and back injuries respectively.

Kerim Frei grabbed a double on his return to the starting XI for the first time in 14 games, and the midfielder is set to keep his place in the lineup.

Konyaspor possible starting lineup:
Sehic; Guilherme, Calvo, Demirbag, Karayel; Bouchalakis, Dikmen; Moreno, Pozuelo, Michalak; Emreli

Fatih Karagumruk possible starting lineup:
Viviano; Mercan, Dresevic, Baniya, Biraschi; Ozdoev, Bertolacci; Frei, Feghouli, Lobjanidze; Diagne

We say: Konyaspor 2-2 Fatih Karagumruk

Both sides are in good form in front of goal heading into Saturday's clash, so we are anticipating an end-to-end affair with lots of chances at either end. That said, we can see the teams matching each other over the course of the 90 minutes and having to settle for a point apiece.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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