Two sides without a win in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League will lock horns on Wednesday as Turkey welcome Serbia to the Turk Telekom Stadium for Group B3's clash.
The hosts salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw with Russia last time out, whereas Serbia succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Hungary in the weekend round of matches.
Match preview
Turkey gave a good account of themselves in their friendly battle with Germany prior to the resumption of the Nations League, eventually walking away with their heads held high after a six-goal thriller ended all square in that friendly, and the Crescent-Stars boast a wealth of talent in their ranks at this moment in time.
Senol Gunes would have been hoping to see that positive result against Germany translate into wins in October's Nations League fixtures, but it did not pan out that way for Turkey against Russia as the two sides both walked away with a point apiece at the weekend.
Indeed, Russia took the lead through Anton Miranchuk and it took a 62nd-minute equaliser from Kenan Karaman to avoid a second loss in three group matches for Turkey, who have also lost to Hungary and drawn with Serbia thus far.
However, bottom-of-the-table Serbia are in an equally bad spell of form in the Nations League as well, and Turkey can move four points clear of their group stage opponents should they take all three points on home soil this week.
Indeed, Serbia were another team looking to build on an impressive result in the days before the Nations League resumed, with Ljubisa Tumbakovic's side overcoming Norway in extra time to set up a European Championships qualifying playoff final with Scotland last week.
However, the Eagles were put to the sword on their own turf by Hungary - a team 21 places below them in the FIFA World Rankings - as Norbert Konyves bagged the winner to leave Serbia still searching for their first three points of the 2020-21 tournament.
Tumbakovic's men were promoted to League B following a strong 2018-19 campaign, which saw them navigate group C4 without suffering defeat, but with just one point from nine so far this time around, Serbia may as well start preparing for an immediate return to League C should they fail to overcome Turkey on Wednesday.
The midweek clash represents only the second ever meeting between Turkey and Serbia, with the inaugural game in September's round of Nations League fixtures ending goalless.
Turkey Nations League form: LDD
Turkey form (all competitions): DWLDDD
Serbia Nations League form: LDL
Serbia form (all competitions): WDLDWL
Team News
Turkey will have to make do without defender Ozan Kabak owing to a suspension, meaning that Leicester City's Caglar Soyuncu is all but guaranteed to come back into the fold at centre-back.
Gunes could ring the changes for this one with plenty of players in the Turkey squad vying for starts, such as Cengiz Under, Okay Yokuslu and Yusuf Yazici, although the latter would do well to demote Hakan Calhanoglu to the bench.
As for Serbia, Aleksandar Kolarov is available for this game having served a suspension against Hungary, and the veteran defender could take Stefan Mitrovic's spot in a back three.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was given the night off against Russia following his heroics in the Euro 2020 playoff semi-final, but the Lazio man should return to the starting lineup for this one.
Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is four goals away from becoming Serbia's all-time top goalscorer, is also in line to spearhead the attack ahead of Luka Jovic.
Turkey possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Celik, Soyuncu, Demiral, Meras; Yokuslu, Tufan; Under, Calhanoglu, Karaman; Yilmaz
Serbia possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Pavlovic, Milenkovic, Kolarov; Gacinovic, Maksimovic, Milivojevic, Ristic; Milinkovic-Savic, Tadic; Mitrovic
We say: Turkey 2-1 Serbia
Neither of these two sides have covered themselves in glory during the early stages of the Nations League, but Turkey and Serbia both have a number of quality players with match-winning capabilities at their disposal. Both teams know the importance of a win here and this should be an interesting battle - one that we expect Turkey to ultimately prevail in.
