The high-pressure matches keep on coming for Turkcell Super League leader Sivasspor, whose leadership credentials will be tested once again when it takes on the Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries away in week 22 action at the Åžükrü SaracoÄŸlu Stadium in Ä°stanbul this evening.



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Much has been written and said about Sivasspor's meteoric rise in the Super League. Some say the time has come at last for an Anatolian side to be the Turkish champion, so Sivasspor's championship challenge is real.

Some, especially the skeptics, still take pride in defending the status quo and arguing that leadership of the Turkish league will remain in Ä°stanbul well into the foreseeable future. And they even go as far as calling Sivas an "imposter" and a "pretender" to the throne.

But no matter what they say, the fact of the matter is that Sivasspor leads the 18-league table with 45 points after beating EskiÅŸehirspor 1-0 at home last Sunday and is therefore the hottest candidate for this season's league title.

Moreover, Bülent Uygun's Sivas boasts the best defense in the league, allowing only 13 goals in 21 games, while scoring 34. The Sivas game plan is built on "defense is the best form of attack" strategy, and little wonder, it has lost only twice in league matches so far this season.

As usual, Sivas will be relying on the services of captain-striker Mehmet Yıldız and newly signed French striker Yannick Etienne Stanislas Kamanan to deliver the goods today.

"As we continue our journey toward the league championship, the Fenerbahçe match is of paramount importance for us," said Sivas coach Uygun, himself a former Fener striker and goal king.

Pressure on Fener

There is no bad blood between Fener and Sivas, but this does not mean it is going to be an easy match for the two title contenders. Most of the pressure, without doubt, will be on the Canaries, who are currently fourth in the standings and trail Sivas by a full eight points.

After being completely outplayed, outclassed and beaten 1-0 away by GençlerbirliÄŸi last Saturday, the Canaries no longer have the luxury of dropping any points. Simply put, they can't afford to draw today, let alone lose. For if they do, the gap between them and leader Sivas would become almost unbridgeable, and that would be tantamount to the Canaries bidding farewell to this season's championship race.

The saddest thing, though, is that the Canaries are almost down to bare bones for this evening's match. Legendary Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos and Turkish winger Kazım Kazım are both suspended for accumulating yellow cards.

Spanish striker Dani Güiza and Brazilian defender Edu Dracena have just recovered from injuries and are therefore not fully fit. And to add insult to injury, attacking midfielder Deivid De Souza is off form.

This means that under-fire Spanish coach Luis Aragones will have a very difficult time forming a team. The septuagenarian Spaniard may opt to start with Güiza and Turkish striker Semih Åžentürk upfront and may also bring in leftie Gökçek Wederson to fill the vacuum created by Carlos' absence. How Aragones' makeshift Canaries perform against the fleet-footed Sivas players this evening remains to be seen. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the referee will be Hüseyin Göçek.

Elsewhere today Ankaraspor-GençlerbirliÄŸi clash in a capital derby that will be refereed by Mustafa Kamil AbitoÄŸlu. Other matches are: Denizlispor-Gaziantepspor (referee Fırat Aydınus) and EskiÅŸehirspor-Kayserispor (Yunus Yıldırım).

Live on LÄ°G TV, LÄ°G TV HD Digiturk 377

19:00 Fenerbahçe-Sivasspor




28 February 2009, Saturday


OKAN UDO BASSEY Ä°STANBUL