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Aiming to build on recent form, Eagles face EsEs away today
The reason: Both teams will be going all out for victory because they are desperate for points to stay in touch with the league frontrunners. EsEs is currently sixth with 16 points from four wins, four draws and one loss in nine league matches.
The Eagles, the defending champions, are seventh with 15 points from four wins, three draws and two defeats -- and this is simply not befitting of the Turkish champion. But things appear to be improving at Beşiktaş.
They have won their last two matches at home, beating Denizlispor 1-0 in week 8 and emerging victorious 2-1 over Kasımpaşa last weekend in a match they completed with nine men. Furthermore, the Eagles earned their first point in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday as they held German champion VfL Wolfsburg to a scoreless draw in their Group B match -- an outcome which revived their hopes of survival.
The Eagles, who arrived in Eskişehir on Thursday, will be striving to build on these recent encouraging results this evening. Coach Mustafa Denizli might rest might opt to rest some his match-weary star players. That may give Turkish-Brazilian striker Mert Nobre an opportunity to make the starting XI as well as defender İbrahim Toraman, who has fully recovered from injury.
“Having already dropped several points, we are treating every match as a final,” Denizli said upon arrival in Eskişehir. “And Saturday’s match will be just one of them.”
For Eskişehirspor coach Riza Çalımbay, a legendary former Beşiktaş captain and midfielder, it will be another emotional night as he will again be plotting the downfall of the team that brought him to fame.
In the other Super League match today, the on-form Bursaspor Green Crocs, currently third in the league, host İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor at their Atatürk Stadium. If Bursa wins, it will be equal in points with second-place Galatasaray, which is idle until Sunday when it takes on Fenerbahçe in the “mother of all derbies.”
Live on LİG TV
16:00 Bursaspor-İBB
20.00 LİG TV - HD
Eskişehirspor-Beşiktaş
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