Istanbulspor AS vs Adana Demirspor

Necmi Kadıoğlu Stadyumu is the venue as relegation-threatened Istanbulspor and 4th-placed Adana Demirspor go head-to-head on the penultimate matchday of the 2022/23 Turkish Super Lig season.

It’s probably a ‘make or break’ fixture for Istanbulspor after back-to-back defeats ‘to nil’ against Kasimpasa and Galatasaray left them one point clear of the drop zone going into the penultimate round. Despite only winning 31% of their Super Lig home outings in 2022/23 (W5, D3, L8), the home side can draw inspiration from a decent run of one defeat in their last four such contests (W2, D1). With each result (win/loss) in that sequence seeing the winner keep a clean sheet, a fast start could be essential, especially considering Istanbulspor are winless in nine out of ten top-flight home matches after conceding the opening goal this term (W1, D2, L7). It’s also worth mentioning that they succumbed to a humiliating 6-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, their second consecutive top-flight H2H loss by 2+ goals ‘to nil.’

Visiting Adana would be silly to let those stats temper with their minds, as they’ve lost twice on their last three Super Lig visits to Istanbul (W1), conceding multiple goals in each defeat. The visitors take this trip off the back of a morale-crushing 4-1 home loss to Besiktas, which halted their eye-catching six-game winning league streak. But after four consecutive Super Lig travels without a victory (D2, L2), Vincenzo Montella’s men have won their last two away league games despite conceding in the first half on both occasions. Adana’s attacking set-up often sparks into life after the break, as witnessed by the fact 65% of their away league goals this season have come beyond halftime (17/26).