One of the biggest clashes in the Turkish Super Lig will take place on Sunday at Papara Park when Trabzonspor host Fenerbahce.
The hosts, who are 27 points behind the visitors, are just one spot below in the table and will hope they can add more twists to the title race while holding on to third place.
Match preview
Trabzonspor bounced back from the defeat against Alanyaspor in fine fashion, as they secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over struggling Fatih Karagumruk last time out.
The Black Sea Storm conceded the first goal of the game, but were handed an easy route back into the game when Karagumruk's defender Davide Biraschi scored a brace of own goals, before Trezeguet, Nicolas Pepe and Umut Bozok all added one each to complete the rout.
The win ensured Abdullah Avci's side remain in the Europa League spot and they have now opened up a three-point gap on fourth-placed Besiktas, who have lost their last two matches.
Trabzonspor will remain on home soil this weekend, but this time against arguably the toughest opposition in the league in Fenerbahce, a side that is 27 points ahead and involved in the title race this season.
However, Avci's side will believe they can cause the Yellow Canaries more trouble on Sunday, having been the only side to defeat in the league this season.
Despite losing 1-0 to Union SG in the second leg of their Europa Conference League round-of-16 tie, Fenerbahce went through to the quarter-final with a 3-1 aggregate win and will now face Greek side Olympiacos in the next round.
The Yellow Canaries are out of the Turkish Cup, but still in contention for two trophies heading into the last final couple of months left in this campaign.
Ismail Kartal's side dispatched Pendikspor 4-1 in their last league match, but remain two points behind Galatasaray who are top of the table in a keenly-contested title race.
This weekend's tie is a tricky one, but Fener know they cannot afford to lose more ground on Gala with just nine matches left to play this season.
However, having lost in their last two visits to Papara Park, the Yellow Canaries will have to dig deep to pick up an important win as they could be five points behind by the time they get to the pitch due to Gala's game a few hours prior.
Team News
Trabzonspor will remain without Mislav Orsic, who is out with an ACL injury that has likely ended his season.
Leading scorer Paul Onuachu also remains sidelined with a broken foot, which could see Pepe spearhead the attack again after scoring in successive matches.
Edin Visca, Enis Bardhi and Trezeguet are the likely trio to play behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1.
Fenerbahce will be without Leonardo Bonucci, Caglar Soyuncu, Rodrigo Becao and Joshua King, who are sidelined by injuries.
Edin Dzeko will look to add to his league leading 18 goals when he starts up front this weekend.
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Meunier, Baniya, Denswil, Elmali; Mendy, Ozdemir; Bardhi, Visca, Trezeguet; Pepe
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Oosterwolde, Aziz, Soyuncu, Kadioglu; Fred, Krunic; Under, Yandas, Tadic; Dzeko
We say: Trabzonspor 1-2 Fenerbahce
It is going to be a tight affair but Fenerbahce have enough quality to get over the line on Sunday. Trabzonspor showed that they can be vulnerable on home soil when they lost woefully to Galatasaray a couple of weeks ago and we think that they will fall short.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
