Galatasaray take on reigning champions Besiktas at the Turk Telekom Arena in what is essentially a win or bust clash.
The Lions are currently 3rd in the Turkish league, seven points behind league leaders Besiktas.
Galatasaray will fall 10 points behind Besiktas if they lose the Istanbul derby whereas a victory would close the gap to four points and open up the title race.
Igor Tudor will take charge of his first game at the Turk Telekom Arena. The former Juventus defender drew his first match in charge of the Lions game against Caykur Rizespor but his appointment has already started to divide opinion.
Tudor dropped star winger Bruma against Rizespor, a decision which backfired as Galatasaray were held to a 1-1 draw.
The former Karabukspor manager appears to have patched things up for now against Bruma but he caused further controversy after dropping Linnes, Cavanda and Sinan Gumus going into the derby – for reasons yet unknown.
Meanwhile Besiktas are in arguably their best form of the season, having won five of their last six games. The Eagles also reached the Europa League Last 16 after knocking out Hapoel Beer-Sheva last week.
The front four of Besiktas which features Anderson Talisca as a No. 10, Ricardo Quaresma and Babel on the flanks and 19-goal Cenk Tosun upfront genuinely looks unstoppable right now.
Besiktas have scored more goals than any other team in the league (43) and Galatasaray are going to have to defend better if they are to shut out the leaders.
If there is one chink in the Eagles armour it is their defence. Besiktas have been prone from time to time to make a hash of things at the back. Things aren’t nearly as bad as last season when schoolboy errors had come to be expected but make no mistake about it, the Besiktas defence still needs a lot of work.
Galatasaray have no shortage of star players either and Bruma, Sneijder and Lukas Podolski form a formidable attacking force.
Bruma has been the Lions player of the season and his explosive pace could give Besiktas trouble down the flanks. Sneijder has been there done that and got the post card. The Dutch star is vastly experienced playing big games at the highest level and Galatasaray will rely on his technical and leadership ability to get them over the line.
They say the form book goes out the window when it comes to the big derbies and while it would be unwise to underestimate Galatasaray at home – even with the ongoing problems – Besiktas are simply playing the best football in the league right now and have arguably the most cunning manager in charge.
Prediction: Besiktas Draw No Bet
GALATASARAY – BEŞİKTAŞ
Stadium: Türk Telekom Arena
Referee: Bülent Yıldırım
Kick-Off: 17:00 GMT
Galatasaray confirmed line-up: Muslera, Semih Kaya, Hakan Balta, Chedjou, Carole, Selçuk İnan, De Jong, Yasin, Bruma, Sneijder, Podolski
Manager: Igor Tudor
Besiktas confirmed line-up: Fabri, Gökhan Gönül, Atınç, Marcelo, Adriano, Quaresma, Atiba, Oğuzhan Özyakup, Babel, Talisca, Cenk Tosun
Manager: Şenol Güneş
