The Saturday round of Turkish league – Super Lig – games sees Trabzonspor looking to stop the rot against Galatasaray at the Turk Telekom Arena and an early relegation battle between Akhisar and Adanaspor.
Galatasaray v Trabzonspor
Going into the season Trabzonspor were tipped as being the one to watch while Galatasaray were expected to struggle after being booted out of European competition for failing to meet FFP regulations and having a relatively quiet summer compared to the glory years. So far completely the opposite has happened. The Lions are on fire while the Trabzonspor have been more a light drizzle than the Black Sea Storm they draw their nickname from. The Istanbul giants injury list is back under control but Koray Gunter, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Wesley Sneijder are all doubts. Summer signing Nigel De Jong is back and will bolster and already physically imposing midfield. Trabzonspor have no major injury concerns but have lost their last six away games in the league. To make matters worse for the away side Galatasaray have won their last four games at the Turk Telekom Arena. It is worth nothing that this is a derby game, Trabzonspor have a far better group of individual players than their current point tally shows and a manager in Ersun Yanal who has won the league title in the past. Trabzonspor can’t be underestimated but it really is difficult seeing this game swing anyway other than a Galatasaray victory.
Prediction: Galatasaray Win
Akhisar v Adanaspor
This early relegation battle clash sees Akhisar take on newly promoted Adanaspor. Neither side are in particularly impressive form but Akhisar are decent at home and Adanaspor have Canberk Dilaver, Digao, Cem Ozdemir, Bekir Yilmaz and Renan Foguinho all out. Both sides have trouble scoring but have been decent defensively. Picking a winner when two sides are in such awful form is tricky but it would be a surprise to see either side light it up in terms of goal scoring.
Prediction: Under 2.5 goals
