Football: Istanbul teams set to claim top league spots

ANKARA

Currently lower than their status in the rankings of the Turkish Spor Toto Super League, Istanbul's Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray are each poised to climb the ladder in Week 3.

Ranked eighth, Besiktas will play away against Gaziantepspor on Friday. Besiktas' Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma is suspended for the match. Another regular, Austrian central midfielder Veli Kavlak suffers from a shoulder injury and central midfielder Tolgay Arslan has ligament problems. The match at Kamil Ocak Stadium will kick off at 9.15 p.m. (1815 GMT).

Defending champions Galatasaray, who were stunned by newly promoted Osmanlispor 2-1 in Istanbul last week, will play against Torku Konyaspor in an away match on Saturday. The match in Konya will begin at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT). Galatasaray midfielder Hamit Altintop will not play due to a knee injury.

Currently fourth, Fenerbahce will host Antalyaspor in their home ground, Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Sunday.

The Istanbul team's leftback Caner Erkin is suspended. In addition, rightback Gokhan Gonul will be out as he suffers from a groin injury.

The game in Istanbul will kick off at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT).

Fixtures of the matchday three are as follows:

Friday:

Gaziantepspor-Besiktas at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT)

Saturday:

Genclerbirligi-Kasimpasa at 7.00 p.m (1600 GMT)

Medipol Basaksehir-Bursaspor at 7.00 p.m (1600 GMT)

Torku Konyaspor-Galatasaray at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT)

Mersin Idmanyurdu-Kayserispor at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT)

Sunday:

Eskisehirspor-Caykur Rizespor at 7.00 p.m (1600 GMT)

Trabzonspor-Akhisar Belediyespor at 7.00 p.m (1600 GMT)

Fenerbahce-Antalyaspor at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT)

Medicana Sivasspor-Osmanlispor at 9.15 p.m (1815 GMT)