Fenerbahçe aims to maintain streak in Galatasaray derby

ISTANBUL

Fenerbahçe forward Moussa Sow (front) and Galatasaray players Dany Nounkeu and Felipe Melo (back) vie for the ball during a Spor Toto Super League derby between the two fierce rivals. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray meet to renew Turkish football’s fiercest rivalry on Nov. 10.

Always the most important fixture in the national football calendar, this weekend’s derby comes with extra importance given the two rivals’ league position. Fenerbahçe sits comfortably on top of the league with 25 points after 10 matches, four points ahead of nearest challenger, Kasımpaşa.

Galatasaray is joint-third with Sivasspor on 19 points, and sees the game as a key chance to catch up in the title race after a poor start to the season. However, history is not on the Lions’ side.

Fenerbahçe is unbeaten at home in derbies since a 2-1 defeat in 1999, and is determined to extend this run to a new milestone of 15 years.

With eight victories and one draw, Fenerbahçe is also on a stunning nine-match unbeaten run in this year’s Super League campaign, after an opening weekend 3-2 defeat to Torku Konyaspor.

The architect of this run, coach Ersun Yanal, will be in the dugout in the derby after undergoing a minor heart operation on Nov. 8.

The club said that Yanal had undergone an angiography and had received a coronary stent.
The game at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium will start at 7 p.m., wrapping up match day 11.

Earlier on the same day, Gençlerbirliği will host Trabzonspor, the latter coming off a solid defeat of Legia Warsaw 2-0 in the Europa League.

Torku Konyaspor hosts Antalyaspor, also on Nov. 10.

Eagles seek resurgence

On Nov. 9, Beşiktaş will try to stop the bleeding when it visits Kayserispor. After starting the campaign with four straight wins, Beşiktaş’s bright form was disrupted by a defeat to Galatasaray. Since then, Beşiktaş has had only one win and is trailing Fenerbahçe by a seven-point margin. The game at the Kayseri Kadir Has Stadium starts at 7 p.m.

Simultaneously, the season’s surprise package so far, Sivasspor, will try to maintain its purple patch of six unbeaten matches and three wins in a row. Coached by legendary Brazil left back Roberto Carlos, Sivasspor plays entertaining football and is the third top-scoring team in the division.

At 7:30 p.m., Karabükspor hosts Çaykur Rizespor, the latter having failed to win its last five matches after a good start.

Earlier on Nov. 9, second-placed Kasımpaşa hosts lowly Gaziantepspor, hoping to maintain its position in the top spots in a tough week for contenders.