High-flying Samsunspor will hope to maintain their impressive start to the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig season when they host Fenerbahce at Samsun 19 Mayis Stadyumu on Sunday.
The Red Lightning are currently in second place, having accumulated 18 points, two points ahead of the Yellow Canaries who are fourth, having played one fewer game.
Match preview
Samsunspor have made a blistering start to the Super Lig this season, picking up six wins in their opening eight matches, which has put them four points behind league leaders Galatasaray.
It is a dream start for a club that barely survived returning to the second division last term after earning promotion to the top-flight at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
Before the international break, the Red Lightning showed their resilience once again, scoring two goals in stoppage time to claim a 3-1 victory away at Adana Demirspor, in a game they trailed since the seventh minute and were level as of the 90th-minute mark.
The most significant improvement for Thomas Reis' men in their last two games is their potency in front of goal, scoring seven times across both games, which is the same number of goals they scored in the opening six matches.
Samsunspor will hope this attacking prowess can help them extend their four-match winning streak when they take on one of the league's biggest teams, Fenerbahce, a side they have mostly struggled against, recording just one win in their last 11 competitive meetings.
Fenerbahce are unbeaten in their last three matches across all competitions after salvaging a 1-1 draw in their Europa League encounters with Twente just before the break, building on their win over Union SG in the opening game of the competition.
In between both games, the Yellow Canaries picked up a 2-0 win away at Antalyaspor in the Super Lig, successfully bouncing back from their first league defeat of the season against Galatasaray.
Jose Mourinho's men are already trailing league leaders and archrivals Galatasaray by six points, having played one fewer game, and they will know there is little room for complacency if they are to dethrone the Lion who have won the last two Super Lig titles.
Picking up a win on Sunday against an in-form Samsunspor will not be an easy job for Fenerbahce, but the visitors have not lost an away game in the Super Lig since doing so in the 2022-23 season and that will fuel their belief.
Team News
Samsunspor will continue to be without Emre Kilinic, who is yet to recover from a jaw injury that has sidelined him for the past few weeks.
Marius Mouandilmadji (three) and Olivier Ntcham (four) have accounted for seven of the Red Lightning's 14 goals so far, and both players will be hoping to make an impact once again on Sunday.
Bright Osayi-Samuel will be unable to feature for Fenerbahce, as the Nigerian is back on the sidelines with a foot injury, while another defender, Caglar Soyuncu, is also out with a muscle issue.
Goalkeeper Irfan Can Egribayat remains sidelined with a muscle injury, while Ismail Yuksek joins the others on the treatment table with a thigh injury.
Samsunspor possible starting lineup:
Kocuk; Yavru, Satka, Drongelen, Bola; Muja, Bennasser; Holse, Ntcham, Dimata; Mouandilmadji
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Muldur, Djiku, Becao, Oosterwolde; Fred, Yusek; Tadic, Szymanski, Saint-Maximin; Dzeko
We say: Samsunspor 1-1 Fenerbahce
Both teams are entering this game with a point to prove, while also hoping to avoid a wider points gap between them and the league leaders.
With this in mind, both teams might adopt a cautious approach, and this is why we are predicting that the game will end in a draw, though we expect goals.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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