Week 18 brings us a match on Dec 22nd, where Sivasspor hosts Rizespor at Yeni Sivas 4 Eylül Stadyumu in a clash of these two extremely mismatched Super Lig teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cold day, and temperatures reaching a maximum of only -5 degrees, which will make playing unpleasant. 8th placed Sivasspor is fresh off their 3-1 win against Kasımpaşa. Samba Camara scored the first goal for Kasımpaşa on an own goal in the 43rd minute, but Fayçal Fajr got the equalizer for Sivasspor in the 50th minute But fortunately they were able to complete the comaback victory in the 76th minute on a goal by Mustapha Yatabare. Sivasspor is looking for direction having 4 win and 2 losses in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 19th placed Rizespor, recorded a 3-1 win against Göztepe. Joel Pohjanpalo struck first for Rizespor in the 40th minute, then Atınç Nukan tied it up for Göztepe in the 61st minute on a feed from Soner Aydoğdu. Rizespor is looking for direction having 4 win and 6 losses in their last 10 matches.
These two teams have not yet played each other this season. Last season Rizespor won the head to head battle with 1 win.
Both Selim Ay and Joel Pohjanpalo have been the hottest scorers for Rizespor in the last five each having scored 2 goals each. Mustapha Yatabare has been on a hot streak lately. In the last five games, the attacker has scored 5 goals for Sivasspor
Sefa Yılmaz, Aaron Appindangoyé and Koray Altınay are unavailable to play for Sivasspor, while Ronaldo Mendes is unavailable to play for Hamza Hamzaoğlu’s team.