| | | | To avoid any suggestion of collaboration or fixing, the Turkish Football Federation has scheduled all but one of the weekend’s matches for Saturday. Significantly, the two games that will have a direct bearing on the destination of the premiership will be played at the same time.
The round kicks off Friday night with a game that has no bearing on this season but a lot on the next. Trabzonspor will be hosting Gaziantepspor, with the latter wanting to consolidate its chances of gaining an EUFA Cup spot for 2003-04. Trabzon has suffered a form slide since it won the Turkish Cup a few weeks back and booking its own passage into Europe. Having little left to play for, it has put together some ordinary results of late.
Galatasaray slipped up badly last weekend, being held to a one all draw by third placed Gençlerbirliği, the result allowing Beşiktaş to open up a five point break. Galatasaray can’t afford any more mistakes and will have to rely on the Black and White Eagles to start dropping points in a hurry.
Galatasaray’s opponent this Saturday is Ankaragücü, currently in sixth place. Playing at home Galatasaray should have the advantage, but the pressure is really on as the season grinds to its end and an upset is not out of the question.
For front runner Beşiktaş, all it has to do is not lose games to win the flag. However, it will be tested on Saturday by Galatasaray’s nemesis Gençler. Playing away in the capital, the Eagles will have to be on top of their game to keep out a fast running and hungry foe.
Fenerbahçe has the chance on Saturday to prove that last week’s win over dead last Kocaelispor was no fluke when it goes cross town to play Istanbulspor. Fener needs to be careful, as a return to its losing ways might see it slip out of contention for the remaining EUFA Cup berth, a possible final straw for many of the club’s frustrated fans.
In other games on Saturday’s, relegation haunted Bursaspor, just one point above the drop zone, hosts 14th placed Altay; Diyarbakırspor is at home to Malatyaspor; and Adanaspor is on the road to Samsunspor.
Last placed Kocaelispor, already heading to the Second Division, could help take 16th placed Elazığspor with them if they could spring a rare win.
Another game that has great bearing on who goes down and who stays up, Göztepe take on Denizlispor at home, with Göztepe needing to win all its remaining games to have any hope of survival in the top flight.
| |
