Orduspor ready for Super League battle with Kayserispor

Orduspor, going into this match, is placed 11th in the 18-strong standings with 35 points from 27 matches. And the interesting thing is that only two points separate Hector Cuper’s Orduspor and eighth-placed İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor, and so Ordu can still make the playoffs if it keeps its eyes on the prize.

The same applies to Kayserispor, with 34 points, sitting just below Orduspor in the standings. It is, therefore, going to be a clash of two teams of equal strength.

Both sides enjoyed contrasting fortunes in week 27 last Sunday, with Orduspor failing to convert a penalty away against Gaziantepspor and eventually losing 1-0. Kayserispor did not lose at home, but Shota Arveladze’s men squandered a 3-1 lead in the second half to draw 3-3 with Trabzonspor in a thrilling encounter.

Orduspor’s Argentinean coach Cuper, naturally, rued the missed chances. “Maybe we did not play well [last Sunday], but Gaziantepspor did not play better than us,” he lamented. “We missed a penalty and had several other chances, but could not convert them. To make matters worse we conceded a goal from a dead-ball situation, and it was really saddening indeed,” he noted.

Orduspor will be missing the services of Trabzon-born defender Numan Çürüksu, who missed training this week. Another certain absentee will be striker Hasan Kabze, a Galatasaray reject, who was stretchered off the pitch in Sunday’s away match at Antep. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.