Ankaragucu vs Caykur Rizespor match preview!

Winless Ankaragucu travel to leaders Caykur Rizespor this weekend looking to cause an upset and finally get their season up and running. A dismal start to the season for Ankaragucu with 2 draws and 2 defeats is in complete contrast to Rizespor who have won all 4 of their matches.

İsmail Kartal will have a full squad of players to chose from apart from Tonia Tisdell who is injured and won't feature until January and Lanre Kehinde is serving a 3 match suspension. Kibong Mbamba hasn't been registered by the club and is now unable to play until at least January.

Ankaragucu provided the fans with another turgid and sluggish match last weekend in the 2-1 defeat at home against Balikesirspor. Having lead through a debut goal from Umut Nayir, Ankaragucu conceded to awful goals late in the match much to the anger of the fans.

Having watched most of the Lig 1 games this season, It has become apparent that teams such as Rizespor, Elazigspor and Gazisehir will do well due to the pace they have in the team. This is an area where Ankaragucu severely lack as İsmail has esembeled a team full of slow players. Losing Tonia Tisdell is a huge blow to the clubs plans.

On a more positive note, their is plenty of talent in the squad to challenge for the playoffs. Anton Putsila, Umut Nayir, Doka Madureira, Abdulkadir Kayali, Kenan Özer are all quality players who just need to find match sharpness and the team will flourish.

If Ankaragucu are to get anything from the match then İsmail Kartal needs to drop Yusuf Abdioglu and Ilhan Parlak to the bench. Both players have had awful starts to the season and a spell on the bench is what is needed. Alihan Kubalas and Cheikhou Dieng would be better options in the starting line up and Mehmet Sak should also take his place back in the team at left back.

Rizespor are the team to beat and have arguably the best forward line in the league with Leonard Kweuke and Braian Samudio forming a formidable partnership. It was surprising that Rizespor managed to keep hold of Kweuke with interest from Super Lig sides. The Cameroonian is a big physical presence who works hard and has a good goal scoring record. Samudio on the other hand is a technically gifted South American who has an excellent range of passing and is very quick. I would be surprised if the Paraguayan doesn't win a big move in the next 12 months.

Other notable players for Rizespor are Recep Niyaz, former Ankaragucu trio Ozgur Cek, Umit Kurt and Gokhan Akkan, and Brazilian U20 international Lincoln.

Hikmet Karaman the former Ankaragucu manager is in charge of Rizespor and last week claimed that Ankaragucu owe him a substantial sum of money from his time at the club. Reports suggest he has reported Ankaragucu to the TFF.

Will Ankaragucu finally turn up this weekend and give the fans something to cheer about or will it be the same old rubbish?

Ankaragucu have also been drawn away in the cup against Afyon Afjetspor and the match will take place next Thursday afternoon live on channel A Spor.