Karagumruk continues to win by surprise. There are economic problems in the club, and important players of the team such as Caner Erkin and Jimmy Durmaz have left the club. Despite this, they won against Trabzonspor and then Kayserispor, scoring 4 goals in each on the way to 6 surprising points. The performance of players who are not paid and only play for the winning bonuses cannot be explained by any statistics.

Konyaspor is different, as they have found themselves drawing more often than not. 5 of their last 6 matches ended in draws and they managed to score in all of them. The fact that they have scored in 11 of the last 12 games can be considered proof that they have no problems finding the back of the net. On the other hand, their biggest problem is keeping the ball out after they take the lead.

Both teams are good in attack, but poor defensively. Karagumruk’s form makes things a little easier for them, but Konyaspor will grab at least a goal.

The biggest match of Turkish football will be played this week. For several seasons, when the derby day came, one of the two teams had been trailing the other significantly, but not this time. They are at the top of the league, with only 1 point difference between them. So, the tension is very high.

Fenerbahce won two games in a row after losing top spot to Galatasaray. Finally, they beat Antalyaspor 1-2, but they were lucky with the goal that was disallowed in the last minute of the match. Performance levels have dropped but Fenerbache continue to produce positive result. Similarly, Galatasaray continues to win despite playing poorly for most of the season.

Striker Mauro Icardi and midfielders Lucas Torreira and Sergio Oliveira, who could not play in the last match for Galatasaray, will be on the field in this match. They will go to the derby with their strongest starting 11, but Fenerbahce’s centre-back Luan Peres and forward Joao Pedro are injured. Enner Valencia, the team’s top scorer, is doubtful. That being the case, it can be expected that Fenerbahce will take the game to a high tempo at home, but Galatasary have enough talent to withstand this barrage.

Although these are the two teams with the best xG value in the league, the mood of the derby is different. A draw is not a bad result for Galatasaray, so they will slow down Fenerbahce. I expect a challenging match, there may be cards a plenty and the game will be stopped frequently due to many fouls, as in the derbies of recent years.