“Friday’s Super Lig Showdown: Samsunspor Aims to Break Home Curse Against Struggling Gaziantep”

Samsunspor, sitting pretty in third place with 37 points, is fresh off a hard-fought goalless draw at Besiktas. Their goalkeeper Okan Kocuk was the hero of that game, making crucial saves even after the team went down to 10 men. It’s quite a turnaround for a club that barely stayed up last season.

But here’s the weird thing – neither team has ever won at home in their previous three meetings. Samsunspor will need to break this curse if they want to keep their spot in the top three, especially with Goztepe breathing down their necks just three points behind.

Gaziantep’s away record this season has been pretty awful, to put it mildly. They’ve picked up just five points on the road and haven’t won away since beating Bodrumspor in their season opener. Their last game, a boring 0-0 draw at home against Bodrumspor, didn’t exactly inspire confidence either.

Team Updates:

• Samsunspor: Van Drongelen is out (red card), but Zeki Yavru is back from suspension
• Gaziantep: Missing Bitok (leg), Saborit (ankle), and Tasdemir (muscle injury)

Likely Lineups:

Samsunspor: Kocuk; Bola, Satka, Cift, Schindler; Holse, Bennasser; Kilinc, Ntcham, Muja; Mouandilmadji

Gaziantep: Bozan; Viana, Mandouki, Kizildag, Eskihallac; Maxim, Ndiaye, Kozlowski; Okereke, Dervisoglu, Sorescu

Recent Form (Super Lig): Samsunspor: WLDWWD Gaziantep: WLWDWD