Trabzonspor - Hatayspor predictions and free betting tips [12/02/2024]

The 25th round of the Turkish Super League is not over yet, so we continue to predict its matches. Trabzonspor will host Hatayspor on its home field. The visitors are in the middle of the table, and as for the "Black Sea Storms", they have temporarily slid to the 5th spot and can easily regain their position in the Eurocups zone, but for that, they at least need not to lose to the south Turkey club.

Trabzonspor

The cup win is very timely as Trabzonspor has managed to series a string of unsuccessful Super League matches, and reaching the quarterfinals of the secondary tournament will certainly add confidence to Abdullah Avci's players.

The match against Genclerbirligi had to go into extra time, though it could have been avoided if Eren Elmali and Thomas Menye hadn't organised a goal in the 96th minute. Then, in the 105th, Trezeguet stood out and we can say that Trabzonspor won on class.

In the Super League, they also need to pick up the pace, otherwise, they might slide below the 5th place in the table. Trabzonspor has a medium-difficulty schedule for the remaining second round matches of the championship where they can't afford to look worse than their nearest competitors for the right to be in the Eurocups group - they need victories over opponents from the lower part of the table, even if it overlaps with the mid-table.

The squad available to Abdullah Avci is quite good, with interchangeable players in several positions. Paul Onuachu will return from the Africa Cup of Nations, so Trabzonspor's top scorer will be coming to the club. We'll see how Avci's flanks will look whether he'll start Trezeguet who worked in the Egypt national team, then played all 90 minutes of a tough match against Besiktas in the championship and played 120 minutes in the Turkish Cup, probably the guy needs to be given a chance to rest and put someone else in his place for the match against Hatayspor. Enis Destan was also fully involved in the previous matches but he didn't go anywhere from Trabzonspor and without him, the team's attack is poor.

Against Hatayspor, they need to act smartly in front, to take territorial superiority and try to score the first goal so they can then play at their own pace.

Hatayspor

The penalty series in the 1/8 final of the Turkish Cup didn't work out for Hatayspor, who didn't manage to convert 3 out of 5 when the opponent also missed. Of course, the players of Volkan Demirel wanted to play right in this match against Istanbul Basaksehir and even performed the task not to lose in regular time, but a ticket to the quarterfinals did not fall to them.

In the Turkish championship, Hatayspor had two victories before the Cup defeat, and before that, "the southerners" hadn't won in the Super League for 10 matches in a row. The density in the table allows them to hold the 12th position, but they can't afford such long stretches of defeats, so as not to slide into the outsider zone.

The Hatayspor squad is not bad, but I wouldn't consider it powerful by Turkish championship standards. The team's top scorer is Carlos Strandberg, who scored a poker in one of the Turkish Cup matches, and as for the Super League, the Swedish forward is also in first place in Hatayspor for goals scored, with 6 1 goal pass to his name. Rigoberto Rivas and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru are even in terms of brought benefit by goal pass statistics, both players (4 2).

Volkan Demirel's team has average results in the championship. Trabzonspor is an interesting opponent, against whom they should and need to play bolder. Hatayspor has a lined-up squad and has already defeated strong leaders of the championship.

Head-to-Head

Hatayspor has won the last two matches against Trabzonspor albeit one match was last season and the other in the first round of this one, where from 0:2, Demirel's players made it 3:2 and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru made a goal assist in this match.

Match prediction: Trabzonspor - Hatayspor

You may find the bet on handicap 2 (0) unpopular in this match, but it is worth trying since Hatayspor can play from defence and achieve the desired score on the scoreboard in the match.