Sports Mole previews Friday’s Turkish Super Lig clash between Besiktas and Caykur Rizespor, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two teams fighting for a place in the top four of the Turkish Süper Lig meet on Friday evening Besiktas host Caykur Rizespor in Vodafone Park.
The hosts are in fifth place in the league before this game, just one point behind fourth-placed Istanbul Basaksehir, while the visitors are three points behind the top four.
Game preview
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Besiktas have had a difficult time this season and come into this game they face the possibility of finishing outside the top four for the second time in three years, having already secured a place in the top four in the previous decade.
The inconsistent results have resulted in the Black and Whites having had five managers over the course of this season Senol Gunes He initially led Besiktas into the new season before being released at the beginning of October.
Since then they have seen Burak Yilmaz, Riza Calimbay, Serdar Topraktepe And Fernando Santos Take the lead, with Topraktepe now back at the helm in his second interim term of this term.
A series of poor results in recent weeks, with Besiktas managing just one win in their last six league games, has left Besiktas out of the top four for the first time since matchday 15 and in this crucial game against the Caykur Rizespor is only one point behind fourth place.
Only four league games remain until the end of the season, meaning Besiktas urgently needs to turn things around and pick up wins to have any chance of finishing in the top four and qualifying for European competition.
The upcoming opponent could prove to be a difficult task for the hosts as the visitors are also fighting for fourth place before the league comes to an end as they are three points behind fourth place.
Caykur Rizespor have only secured a European qualifying place in two matchdays this season and despite a run of five games without a win until February that threatened to derail their top-four ambitions, they have managed four wins and a draw in their last seven Play your place and keep the race.
Luckily for the hosts, Ilhan PalutBarcelona’s men struggled to get results away from home as they only picked up 12 points from a possible 48 away from home, the seventh-fewest in the league.
Palut will be hoping his side can reverse this away form in their final games. They have traveled to opponents’ stadiums in three of their last four games and a win here against top-four rivals Besiktas could be a crucial result in the battle for fourth place.
Besikta’s Turkish Super Lig form:
Besiktas form (all competitions):
Caykur Rizespor Turkish Super League form:
Team news
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The home team will have to do without up to eight players in this important game against Caykur Rizespor.
Ali Al Musrati is expected to serve the first game of his suspension after receiving a red card in the previous game against Fenerbahce.
Amir Hadziahmetovic is out for the rest of the season after tearing his cruciate ligament in January.
Ante Rebic, Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov, Emrecan tailor, Ege Tiknaz, Tayfur Bingol And Arda Kilic It is expected that everyone will also be present at this event.
As for the visitors, they will be without four players in this game, none of whom are regular starters.
Janne-Pekka Laine, Benhur Keser, Mithat Pala are all canceled for the foreseeable future Okechukwu Azubuike is canceled for the rest of the season.
Besiktas possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Svensson, Worrall, Uysal, Masuaku; Ucan, Fernandes; Rashica, Muci, Muleka; Kilicsoy
Caykur Rizespor possible starting lineup:
That me; Sahin, Aliqulov, Topcu, Yesterday; Olawoyin, Shelvey; Akintola, Varesanovic, Zeqiri; Gaich
We say: Besiktas 2:1 Caykur Rizespor
Besiktas may have struggled for wins in recent games, but their home form is far superior to Caykur Rizespor’s away results, which makes us believe the hosts will come away with the win here.
For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this game, please click here.
