Football: Derby day in Turkish Super Lig
Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce to kick-off at 8 p.m. local time in Turkey (1800 GMT) on Sunday
Ankara
ANKARA
Football fans in Turkey are looking forward to a Super Lig derby between Istanbul archrivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce to be played at the Turk Telekom Arena on Sunday.
Home side Galatasaray have no hope of winning the Turkish Spor Toto Super Lig title but Fenerbahce are only one point behind table leaders Besiktas who are on 60 points.
Galatasaray are in fifth spot with 39 points.
Galatasaray left-winger Olcan Adin will miss the derby as he is suspended. The 30-year-old player scored the equalizer in an earlier derby against Fenerbahce in Kadikoy. The Oct. 25 clash ended 1-1.
Visitors Fenerbahce's Serbian winger Lazar Markovic – on loan from Liverpool - is still injured.
Galatasaray recently appointed Jan Olde Riekerink as their new head coach on March 16. The 53-year-old Dutch native will manage Istanbul club till the end of 2015-2016 season.
Fenerbahce will want to prioritize the title race as they have been recently eliminated from the UEFA Europa League.
The Super Lig derby will kick-off at 8 p.m. local time in Turkey (1800 GMT).
Leaders Besiktas will host Antalyaspor on Saturday. Besiktas regulars in midfield, Oguzhan Ozyakup and Gokhan Tore, are injured. In addition, Besiktas’ goalkeeper Tolga Zengin has rib problems so may miss the match as well.
The match at Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium will begin at 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).
Five Besiktas players reached yellow card limit. If German striker Mario Gomez, right-back Andreas Beck, Turkish left-back Ismail Koybasi, midfielder Olcay Sahan and Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma are booked in this match, they will be missing the next league fixture against Kasimpasa.
- Super Lig fixtures:
Friday:
Kayserispor vs Eskisehirspor
Akhisar Belediyespor vs Caykur Rizespor
Saturday:
Osmanlispor vs Genclerbirligi
Trabzonspor vs Medicana Sivasspor
Besiktas vs Antalyaspor
Sunday:
Mersin Idmanyurdu vs Gaziantepspor
Torku Konyaspor vs Medipol Basaksehir
Bursaspor vs Kasimpasa
Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce
- Standings:
Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | +/- | Pts |
1. Besiktas | 25 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 56 | 24 | 32 | 60 |
2. Fenerbahce | 25 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 43 | 19 | 24 | 59 |
3. Torku Konyaspor | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 30 | 26 | 4 | 46 |
4. Medipol Basaksehir | 25 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 38 | 29 | 9 | 40 |
5. Galatasaray | 25 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 50 | 36 | 14 | 39 |
6. Akhisar Belediyespor | 25 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 31 | 29 | 2 | 38 |
7. Kasimpasa | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 26 | 4 | 37 |
8. Osmanlispor | 25 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 39 | 28 | 11 | 36 |
9. Genclerbirligi | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 27 | 30 | -3 | 32 |
10. Bursaspor | 25 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 28 | 39 | -11 | 32 |
11. Antalyaspor | 25 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 38 | 42 | -4 | 31 |
12. Gaziantepspor | 25 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 26 | 36 | -10 | 31 |
13. Trabzonspor | 25 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 30 | 37 | -7 | 30 |
14. Caykur Rizespor | 25 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 33 | 35 | -2 | 28 |
15. Kayserispor | 25 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 27 | -8 | 23 |
16. Medicana Sivasspor | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 23 | 36 | -13 | 21 |
17. Mersin Idmanyurdu | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 44 | -18 | 20 |
18. Eskisehirspor | 25 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 28 | 52 | -24 | 18 |
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