Alanyaspor could draw level on points with third-placed Hatayspor with victory on Thursday, when the two teams meet in gameweek 22 of the Turkish Super Lig.
The visitors' away form has been quite inconsistent recently, but they do enter this encounter on the back of a positive win, while Alanyaspor are also looking to record back-to-back triumphs.
Match preview
Bulent Korkmaz's side currently sit eighth in the Super Lig, only two points behind fourth spot, and Alanyaspor will know that taking three points off Hatayspor would be an influential result in the fight for European places.
Alanyaspor may also be confident heading into Thursday's clash, having strung together a four-game unbeaten run in all competitions, including a 2-0 win last time out against Altay.
Emre Akbaba and Oguz Aydin were on the scoresheet in that game, which the visitors dominated perhaps as expected against a side in the midst of a relegation battle.
A clean sheet on the weekend would have pleased Korkmaz, having not seen his side stop the opposition from scoring in their last seven league games, and that defensive aspect is something that Alanyaspor will want to take into Thursday's meeting.
Alanyaspor have also not won a Super Lig home game since that last time they kept a clean sheet, in a 2-0 win against Besiktas on November 20, and so they need to start picking up a few more points on their own patch if they are to be contenders for a top-four finish.
Hatayspor have not recorded consecutive league wins since October and they are only one point ahead of fifth-placed Adana Demirspor, meaning that they need to be careful not to drop out of the top four.
Omer Erdogan's side had to twice come from behind last time out against Galatasaray, but the home side showed great character and spirit to turn the game around and go on to record a 4-2 win.
That victory seemed like a must-win encounter after the third-placed team lost to relegation-threatened Kasimpasa a week earlier, and Thursday's match is just as important to stay ahead of the European spots chasing pack.
Hatayspor will be looking to be more creative on their travels this week, having scored eight fewer goals away from home in the league this season.
A repeat of the scoreline that occurred during the reverse fixture between these two teams would do nicely for Hatayspor, who won 5-0 against Alanyaspor earlier in this campaign, but that is unlikely to come about again this week given their goalscoring record on the road.
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Team News
Chidozie Awaziem, El Mami Tetah and Famara Diedhiou will not feature for Alanyaspor on Thursday as they are currently in Cameroon competing in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Midfielder Umut Gunes received a straight red card against Istanbul Basaksehir two matches ago, and so he will continue to serve his suspension this week.
Akbaba came into the starting 11 last time out in place of Gunes and produced a player of the match performance, and he is sure to continue in the middle of the pitch, along with Efkan Bekiroglu and Joao Novais.
A trio of players will also be missing for Hatayspor due to the Africa Cup of Nations, with goalkeeper Munir, winger Ayoub El Kaabi and midfielder Adama Traore all away on international duty.
Right-back Burak Camoglu has only managed two appearances in the Super Lig this season but he remains sidelined with a muscle injury, but could be fit enough to play later this month.
After a positive result on the weekend, Erdogan may opt to pick the same starting 11, meaning that Mame Biram Diouf will lead the line alongside Dylan Saint-Louis, with 10 goals between them this campaign.
Alanyaspor possible starting lineup:
Marafona; Borja, Aksoy, Bayir, Juanfran; Novais; Davidson, Bekiroglu, Akbaba, Karaca; Eduardo
Hatayspor possible starting lineup:
Yigiter; Adekugbe, Oksuz, Kurucuk, Corekci; Kamara, Ribeiro, Ergun, Lobzhanidze; Diouf, Saint-Louis
We say: Alanyaspor 2-1 Hatayspor
Alanyaspor will be looking to take advantage of any slip-ups their visitors make on Thursday due to being away from home, as Hatayspor's form on their travels has been up and down.
Hatayspor have not scored many goals away from home this season, which is why Alanyaspor are expected to outscore their visitors this week.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Alanyaspor win with a probability of 59.65%. A draw had a probability of 21.3% and a win for Hatayspor had a probability of 19.05%.
The most likely scoreline for an Alanyaspor win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.63%) and 2-0 (9.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.97%), while for a Hatayspor win it was 1-2 (5.16%). The actual scoreline of 6-0 was predicted with a 0.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Alanyaspor would win this match.
