Besiktas manager Senol Gunes has urged his players to remain focused ahead of this weekends encounter with Gaziantepspor.
The experienced manager held a meeting with his players earlier today where he congratulated them on their achievements in 2016. Gunes also wants his players to end the year on a high with a victory over Gaziantepspor on Saturday.
Brazilian centre-back Luiz Rhodolfo is expected to return to the starting line-up after Marcelo picked up a suspension last week. Meanwhile, Kerim Frei is also set to be included in the starting line-up once again as he looks to nail down a place in Gunes’ starting eleven.
Both Atiba and Adriano are a yellow card away from a suspension which could see them miss their clubs next game.
Besiktas are currently second in the Turkish Super league with 32 points after 15 games, three points behind league leaders Istanbul Başakşehir. The Black Eagles drew the Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva F.C. in the Europa League draw earlier this week.
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Başakşehir have been the surprise of the season so far and have far outperformed expectations after racking up 35 points in 16 games.
Not many people would have expected a side other than the big Istanbul three or potentially Trabzonspor to be in first place 15 weeks into the league. Nobody would have expected Basaksehir to be first but the Istanbul minnows – perhaps a term they have outgrown – are in pole position and the only side in the league to have not lost a single game this season.
Head coach Abdullah Avci has been working wonders on a shoestring budget for years at Basaksehir and quite frankly deserves a lot more credit than he receives in Turkey.
Besiktas will be hoping to keep the pressure on Basaksehir next weekend by recording a victory over Gaziantepspor at the Vodafone Arena.