Still licking their wounds from their Europa Conference League exit, Fenerbahce journey to the New Sivas 4 Eylul Stadium to take on Sivasspor in round 33 of the Super Lig on Monday.
While the home side continued their push for a top-half finish, the Yellow Canaries set out in search of a seventh consecutive league win as they look to return to the top of the table.
Match preview
Sivasspor recorded successive Super Lig victories for the first time since January last Friday when they narrowly edged out Trabzonspor 1-0 at the Senol Gunes Spor Complex.
January signing Queensy Menig grabbed the headlines for the visitors as he netted the only goal of the game seven minutes into the second half to condemn Trabzonspor to their 12th defeat of the season.
Prior to that, Bulent Uygun's men snapped their run of three consecutive league games without a win on April 3 when they scraped a 1-0 victory over Fatih Karagumruk courtesy of a last-gasp strike from Rey Manaj.
Sivasspor have now won 11 of their 32 Super Lig matches so far while losing 10 and claiming 11 draws to collect 44 points and sit ninth in the table, seven points adrift of the Conference League qualifying spot.
While the Braves will be looking to mount an audacious charge for European football, their first major test comes in the form of a Fenerbahce side whom they have failed to get the better of in their last seven encounters, losing four and claiming three draws since a 2-1 loss in May 2021.
However, Sivasspor will fancy their chances this weekend as they return home, where they are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 league games, picking up five wins and four draws since the start of October.
Fenerbahce, on the other hand, suffered a gruesome exit from the Conference League in midweek as they were beaten on penalties by Greek powerhouse Olympiacos despite overturning a first-leg deficit.
Fenerbahce turned in a resilient team performance in the reverse leg on April 11 despite losing 3-2 as Dusan Tadic and Irfan Can Kahveci scored second-half goals to reduce the deficit after trailing 3-0 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
Kahveci netted the only goal of the game on Thursday to hand the Turkish outfit a 1-0 victory in normal time and force extra time, but with nothing to separate the sides after 30 minutes, the game went on to penalties, where Olympiacos secured a 3-2 win.
Ismail Kartal's men now turn their attention to the Super Lig, where they have won each of their most recent seven matches and are unbeaten in their last 21 outings, claiming 17 wins and four draws.
Fenerbahce's last league defeat came on November 4, when they were beaten 3-2 by Trabzonspor, and this impressive run has put them on course for a third consecutive league title and their 20th top-flight crown since 1959.
With 85 points from 32 matches, the Yellow Canaries are currently second in the Super Lig standings, two points adrift of league leaders and rivals Galatasaray with six games left to go.
Team News
Sivasspor will head into the weekend without the midfield duo of Hakan Arslan and 29-year-old Azizbek Turgunboev, who have been sidelined through groin injuries.
First-choice goalkeeper Ali Vural Sasal missed the game against Trabzonspor through a hand injury and the 33-year-old will also play no part in Monday's game.
Experienced midfielder Charilaos Charisis is also out of contention for the hosts due to a one-game suspension after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking in the aforementioned game.
Meanwhile, Fenerbahce remain without several players down the spine of the team as the likes of Luan Peres, Mert Muldur and Serdar Aziz continue their spells on the sidelines.
Dutch defender Jayden Oosterwolde missed the Conference League tie against Olympiacos last time out through a knee injury and is also ruled out of Monday's matchup.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Nikolic; Paluli, Appindangoye, Camara, Ciftci; Caktas, Poungouras, Elmaz; Koita, Manaj, Menig
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Osayi-Samuel, Soyuncu, Aziz, Kadioglu; Krunic, Yüksek; Kahveci, Fred, Tadic; Dzeko
We say: Sivasspor 1-3 Fenerbahce
Reeling from their Conference League heartbreak, Fenerbahce will head into Monday's game looking to pick up a morale-boosting result. Kartal's men have enjoyed the better of this fixture, and while we expect the hosts to put up a fight, we are backing them to come away with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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