Başakşehir to host Fenerbahçe in crucial league game

ISTANBUL

Spor Toto Super League leader Başakşehir will play city rival Fenerbahçe at home this weekend in a game that could reshape the race for the Turkish title. 

Başakşehir sits atop the standings with 43 points with 14 more games to go, ahead of Galatasaray with 41 points. Fenerbahçe is third, five points behind the leader. 

A win for the home side on Feb. 11 will increase that point difference to eight points. After two back-to-back draws in league games, Fenerbahçe can ill afford to drop more points. 

The numbers back the league leader, with Başakşehir losing only once in its last 15 official games against major city rivals Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, winning eight of them. 

However, Fenerbahçe can find some consolation in the fact that that one loss came when it beat Başakşehir 1-0 at home in the second half of the last season. 

Galatasaray will go out for a victory against struggling Antalyaspor in the last match of Week 21 competition on Feb. 12 to make best use of the game against its two biggest title rivals.

Fourth-placed Beşiktaş has a relatively comfortable fixture at hand, hosting cellar-dweller Karabükspor, which has lost all but two of its away games so far this season, on Feb. 10 at Vodafone Park. 

Also on Feb. 10, Gençlerbirliği, which has climbed up from the relegation zone with a seven-game unbeaten streak, hosts Trabzonspor, which has drawn each of its last four games. 

In the day’s other match, Göztepe plays Osmanlıspor at home. 

Kayserispor, which sits in fifth place three points behind Beşiktaş, will entertain Sivasspor at home on Feb. 11, hoping for a victory to pursue its chances of finishing in the top four for a European berth. 

Bursaspor travels to Akhisarspor and Alanyaspor hosts Konyaspor in the week’s other games.