Having qualified for the Europa League, Sivasspor would have expected to find themselves competing in the top half of the table during the early months of the campaign.

However, the added fixtures have only hindered Yigidos, who have required five points from their last three games to give themselves some breathing space in 16th spot.

Riza Calimbay would have been relieved with Monday's 1-0 success away at Konyaspor, a result which ended a seven-game winless streak in Turkey's top flight.

Although much work remains for Calimbay and his squad, they will be confident of eventually moving closer to the mid-table positions now that they have been eliminated from continental competition.

Sivasspor have also gone five halves of football in all competitions without conceding a goal, a run they will expect to continue against opponents who have struggled in the final third.

Even by scoring four times during their last three outings, Genclerbirligi still possess the second-worst attacking record in the division with 10 goals from 12 fixtures.

Only three players have scored more than once in the league, a list which includes defensive-minded midfielder Berat Ozdemir, who has netted those strikes in his last three outings.

The catalyst for their recent resurgence was a 2-1 victory over leaders Alanyaspor on December 5, but a further four points from games against two of their relegation rivals means that Mustafa Kaplan will be confident of another positive result on Thursday.

Sivasspor Turkish Super Lig form: LDLDDW
Sivasspor form (all competitions): LDLDWW

Genclerbirligi Turkish Super Lig form: LLLWWD
Genclerbirligi form (all competitions): WLWWLD

Team News

Sivasspor's Olarenwaju Kayode celebrates scoring against Qarabag in the Europa League on November 5, 2020 © Reuters

Barring any late fitness issues, Calimbay is unlikely to make any major changes to his Sivasspor XI.

Despite still searching for his first league goal of the season, Olarenwaju Kayode will hope that he is given another opportunity in attack.

Genclerbirligi will be without Sami Gokhan Altiparmak, who was sent off just three minutes after his introduction against Ankaragucu.

With that game having taken place on Sunday, Kaplan will consider selecting the same team, a decision which would leave former Fulham man Floyd Ayite among the replacements.

Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Samassa; Goiano, Appindangoye, Yalcin, Ciftci; Arslan, Claudemir, Fajr; Yesilyurt, Kayode, Gradel

Genclerbirligi possible starting lineup:
Nordfeldt; Artan, Kizildag, Pehlivan, Polomat; Ozdemir, Motta; Candeias, Yildirim, Yilmaz; Stancu

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We say: Sivasspor 1-1 Genclerbirligi

While these two clubs would have had ambitions to finish higher in the table, Thursday's fixture will be all about avoiding defeat. With that in mind, do not be surprised to see an uneventful affair played out on Christmas Eve as both managers look to keep things ticking over heading into the New Year.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 Sivasspor win with a probability of 51.17%. A draw had a probability of 26.6% and a win for Genclerbirligi had a probability of 22.27%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sivasspor win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.42%) and 2-1 (9.03%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.33%), while for a Genclerbirligi win it was 0-1 (8.42%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 4.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sivasspor would win this match.