Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Turkish Super Lig clash between Fenerbahce and Sivasspor, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two teams looking to preserve their respective unbeaten streaks will go head-to-head when Fenerbahce welcome Sivasspor to Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Sunday.
The hosts have not lost any of their last four Super Lig matches, while the visitors are on a three-match winning streak heading into this clash.
Match preview
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Fenerbahce suffered their first defeat in the Europa League this season, going down 3-1 to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar at AFAS Stadion on Thursday night.
The Yellow Canaries have won just one of four matches in the Europa League, drawing two, leaving them in 21st place with four points.
However, Jose Mourinho‘s side are enjoying a good run in the Super Lig, having drawn one and won three of their last four matches, including the last two, which has left them in third place with 23 points after 10 matches, five points behind league leaders Galatasaray.
Fenerbahce won 3-2 against fierce rivals Trabzonspor in a dramatic game that saw Sofyan Amrabat score the winning goal in the 12th minute of stoppage time, with Mourinho mocking the VAR as ‘man of the match’ while saying that the referees made decisions that ‘smell bad’.
The former Chelsea manager has since been slammed with a £20,000 fine by the Turkish football association alongside a one-match ban, which will see him miss the next match against Sivasspor.
The Yellow Canaries are undefeated in their last eight matches against Sunday’s opponents across all competitions, which includes six Super Lig matches.
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Sivasspor recorded just two wins in their opening eight Super Lig matches, but they have since turned the corner with wins in their last three matches.
Bulent Uygun‘s men came back from a goal deficit to win 2-1 at home against Rizespor in their last league game, thanks to a second-half brace from Noah Sonko Sundberg.
The Yigidos climbed two spots to sixth place following the win, having accumulated 17 points from 11 Super Lig matches, leaving them three points behind fourth-placed Besiktas.
Sivasspor are looking to achieve a four-match unbeaten streak in a Super Lig season since doing so back in April, a run that included a 2-2 draw with Fenerbahce.
Fenerbahce Turkish Super Lig form:
Fenerbahce form (all competitions):
Sivasspor Turkish Super Lig form:
Team News
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Fenerbahce’s Jayden Oosterwolde is ruled out for up to five months with a cruciate ligament injury sustained in the draw against Samsunspor on October 20.
Alexander Djiku might not be available for the clash as he is hoping to quickly recover from physical discomfort that kept him out of the Europa League clash with AZ on Thursday.
Sivasspor’s left-back Ugur Ciftci will miss this clash following his sending-off in the win over Rizespor for two bookable offences.
Twenty-year-old Turkish defender Mehmet Albayrak is out until next year, as he is recovering from a cruciate ligament injury.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Osayi, Soyuncu, Becao, Muldur; Fred, Amrabat; Tadic, Saint-Maximin; En-Nesyri, Dzeko
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Nikolic; Paluli, Radakovic, Sundberg, Camara; Poungouras; Rodrigues, Moutoussamy, Charisis, Koita; Balde
We say: Fenerbahce 3-1 Sivasspor
Fenerbahce have won three of their four home matches this season, and have dominated their encounters with Sivasspor, which is why we believe that the home side will win this clash.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
