Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Turkish Super Lig clash between Sivasspor and Caykur Rizespor, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sivasspor will look to bounce back from their midweek Turkish Cup exit when they play host to Caykur Rizespor on Sunday.
The home side are sitting in 10th position in the Turkish Super Lig table, while the visitors are six points better off in fifth place.
Match preview
Sivasspor came up just short in Wednesday’s Turkish Cup clash with Konyapsor, falling to a narrow 1-0 extra-time defeat in the last-16 tie.
With their cup campaign over, Sivasspor will turn their focus back to the Turkish Super Lig, where they have won just one of their last six matches (D3, L2).
However, they have at least picked up four points from their previous two league outings after beating Besiktas 1-0 before playing out a goalless away draw with Ankaragucu last weekend.
The hosts will certainly fancy their chances of taking something from Sunday’s contest, having avoided defeat in each of their last six home games in the Turkish Super Lig (W2, D4).
However, Sivasspor will be frustrated by the fact that they have seen seven of their 11 home league games finish all square this season.
In contrast to their hosts, Rizepor have had a full week to prepare for Sunday’s contest, with their most recent fixture taking place against Konyaspor last weekend.
On that occasion, Ilhan Palut‘s side played out a goalless draw to leave them with just one win from their last four league games (D1, L2).
Despite experiencing a inconsistent spell of results, Rizespor are just one point adrift of fourth-placed Trabzonspor and three points off Besiktas in fifth position.
If Rizespor are to achieve a top-four finish, they will need to improve on their travels, having failed to win any of their last eight away matches in the Turkish Super Lig (D3, L5).
As a result, the visitors head into Sunday’s contest with hopes of claiming their first away win since beating Konyaspor 2-1 in September.
Sivasspor Turkish Super Lig form:
Sivasspor form (all competitions):
Caykur Rizespor Turkish Super Lig form:
Caykur Rizespor form (all competitions):
Team News
Sivasspor remain without the services of Ahmed Musa, who is with the Nigeria squad preparing for Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final against Ivory Coast.
Mijo Caktas, Azizbek Turgunboev and Queensy Menig could be included in the matchday squad after joining the club in the closing stages of the transfer window.
Rey Manaj will offer one of Sivasspor’s main goal threats, having scored 11 times in 20 league appearances this season.
As for the visitors, they are still expected to be without midfielder Okechukwu Azubuike, who is continuing his recovery from a long-term injury.
Uzbekistan international Khusniddin Alikulov is likely to make the bench after returning from the Asian Cup in Qatar.
David Akintola is also set to feature among the substitutes following his recent arrival from fellow Turkish side Adana Demirspor.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Vural; Poungouras, Appindangoye, Camara; Paluli, Kvet, Elmaz, Akdag, Ciftci; Bassan, Manaj
Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
Akkan; Sahin, Mocsi, Topcu, Hojer; Shelvey, Olawoyin; Keser, Varesanovic, Zeqiri; Gaich
We say: Sivasspor 1-1 Caykur Rizespor
Although Rizespor are six points better off than their opponent, they have struggled to pick up wins on their travels, and we think that they may have to settle for a point against a Sivasspor side who have avoided defeat in their last six home league matches.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
