Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor

Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor Preview

Friday evening in Istanbul, and Kasimpasa host a Konyaspor side who are only just starting to find their feet in the 2026-27 Super Lig campaign. The Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium is the venue, and while this might not be the glamour fixture of the Turkish football calendar, there is genuine intrigue here on a few levels. Kasimpasa come in unbeaten through five games and sitting fourth in the table, looking every inch a side that has found a settled identity under Emre Belozoglu. Konyaspor, meanwhile, limped into the weekend off the back of four consecutive defeats before finally getting a result against Trabzonspor last Saturday. The gap in early-season momentum between these two clubs right now is significant.

For Kasimpasa, this is about more than just maintaining an unbeaten run. They have not beaten Konyaspor in 17 attempts stretching back to November 2017, and that is an extraordinary sequence for a home side to carry into a fixture. Eight years of hurt across 17 games, picking up nothing but draws and defeats, means Belozoglu’s men will be aware there is something of a monkey on their back here. At the same time, they are playing at home where they have been genuinely solid, and the belief that comes from coming from behind to win in the dying minutes last week should not be underestimated.

Konyaspor’s task is to build on that Trabzonspor win rather than let it become an isolated result. Head coach Ilhan Palut will know that four defeats in your opening four league games leaves you looking nervously over your shoulder, and a road trip to a side in good form is a tough ask when your away record since January has been so poor. The stakes are clear enough: Kasimpasa want to end a long, embarrassing hoodoo and cement their place in the top half, while Konyaspor need to prove last week was the start of something rather than a one-off.

Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor Form

Kasimpasa’s form makes for genuinely encouraging reading if you follow this club. Five games unbeaten to open a Super Lig season is something they have never managed before, and the character shown against Genclerbirligi last Sunday underlines why this squad deserves respect. Going a goal down at the Eryaman Stadium and then finding the equaliser through Adrian Benedyczak with 11 minutes left before Guven Yalcin grabbed a winner in stoppage time, that is not the kind of result that happens by accident. That is a team with belief and quality in the final third. Two wins and three draws from five, seven scored and five conceded, and a place in the top four, this is a solid platform.

At home specifically, Kasimpasa’s record is even more encouraging. Seven league games without defeat at the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium, stretching back to a 3-0 beating by Rizespor in February. Four wins and three draws in that run tells you this is a side that knows how to get results in front of their own supporters. The home crowd, the familiar turf, the tactical shape Belozoglu has drilled into them, it all comes together when they play here, and that gives them a real foundation to work from on Friday.

Konyaspor’s form picture is almost the polar opposite. Four straight defeats to open the campaign, against Rizespor, Fenerbahce, Kocaelispor and newly-promoted Erzurumspor, is a desperate start that left Palut’s side rooted to the bottom of the table and under real pressure. The 1-0 win over Trabzonspor last week was built almost entirely on defensive graft and a very early goal, with Konyaspor seeing just 29 percent of the ball and spending most of the match hanging on. It worked, fair play, but it is not exactly the kind of form that inspires confidence ahead of a trip to a team flying. On the road since January, Konyaspor have won just twice in 11 away games across all competitions, and they have lost all four of their away fixtures since mid-April. That is a concerning pattern that Palut has not yet found an answer to.

Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor Head to Head

The head-to-head record here is remarkable and absolutely central to how you assess this game. Konyaspor have not lost to Kasimpasa since November 2017, a run that now stretches to 17 games encompassing eight wins and nine draws for the away side. That is not a blip or a quirk of the draw, that is a pattern that has persisted across multiple managers, multiple squads, and multiple seasons on both sides. Whatever it is about this fixture that suits Konyaspor, they have consistently found a way to get something from it even when the form book might have suggested otherwise. You cannot just dismiss 17 games of evidence.

That said, every sequence comes to an end eventually, and the conditions for that to happen look more favourable than they have in quite some time. Kasimpasa are in their best early-season form in the club’s history, playing at home where they have been strong, with a striker in the form of his life. Konyaspor are coming in off a dreadful start to the campaign and with a poor away record. If there was ever a moment for Belozoglu’s side to finally break the hoodoo, this feels like it. But football has a habit of laughing at logic, and punters should at least acknowledge that Konyaspor have history here.

Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor Lineups

The big news on the Kasimpasa injury front is that Mortadha Ben Ouanes and Haris Hajradinovic are both sidelined with muscle problems, while Kamil Ahmet Corekci is still working his way back from an Achilles tendon injury. Three absentees is not ideal, but the likely starting XI still looks strong. Gianniotis should start in goal, protected by a back four of Winck, Mouanga, Ilie and Karapo. In attack, Adrian Benedyczak is the name to watch. The Polish striker signed from Parma in January, ended last season with 10 goals and an assist in just 14 games, and has already hit four goals with one assist in five outings this term. He sits joint-third in the Golden Boot race and should lead the line alongside Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Ali Yavuz Kol.

For Konyaspor, Austrian midfielder Mucahit Ibrahimoglu, who arrived from Serikspor in the summer, remains unavailable due to a muscle problem and is yet to make his debut for the club. Palut looks likely to stick with the defensive structure that saw off Trabzonspor, meaning Bahadir Gungordu starts in goal behind a back four of Ugurcan Yazgili, Rayyan Baniya, Adil Demirbag and Arthur Masuaku. Rajmund Toth, who scored the decisive second-minute goal last week, could keep his place in midfield. Palut’s managerial record against Belozoglu is also worth noting, just one win from eight previous encounters as opposing managers, with three defeats and four draws. That is another piece of context that does not flatter the Konyaspor bench.

Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor Tactics

Kasimpasa under Belozoglu are a side that press with purpose and look to get the ball wide quickly to stretch opposing defences. Their front three of Benedyczak, Rak-Sakyi and Kol offers pace and directness, and when they get space in behind, they are dangerous. The comeback win over Genclerbirligi showed they can also be patient, absorbing a setback and then throwing more bodies forward when the game demands it. They are not a side that panics, and that composure in the final quarter of matches has been a real feature of their unbeaten start. Expect Belozoglu to set up in an aggressive mid-block that transitions quickly into attack, with Benedyczak the focal point for everything going forward.

Konyaspor’s approach against Trabzonspor was almost brutally pragmatic. Sit deep, compress the space, defend your box and take your chances on the break. With only 29 percent of possession and still winning the game, Palut clearly felt that approach suited his squad’s current limitations, and it worked. The problem is that Kasimpasa are not Trabzonspor, and the quality of Benedyczak up top means Konyaspor’s defensive line will be under far more individual pressure. Masuaku and Baniya in particular will need to be switched on from the first whistle. If Konyaspor try to replicate that ultra-defensive setup and Kasimpasa find their rhythm early, the visitors could find themselves chasing the game in a way that really does not suit them given their attacking limitations this season.

Kasimpasa vs Konyaspor Prediction and Betting Tips

This feels like the week Kasimpasa finally put the hoodoo to bed. The conditions are stacked in their favour in a way they have rarely been during that 17-game run: unbeaten at home for seven league games, Benedyczak in brilliant form, Konyaspor coming in off four straight defeats with a dreadful away record and a squad still finding its feet under Palut. Yes, the head-to-head demands respect, and yes, Konyaspor showed last week they can grind out results. But grinding out a result at the Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium against a Trabzonspor side you hold to 71 percent possession is very different from going to a confident, in-form Kasimpasa side on a Friday night in Istanbul.

The tip here is Kasimpasa to win and both teams to score. Benedyczak has been involved in goals in every game this season and should cause Konyaspor problems throughout. But Konyaspor have shown they can nick a goal at the right moment, as Toth proved against Trabzonspor. Kasimpasa’s defensive record of five conceded in five games suggests they are not impenetrable, and a Konyaspor side desperate to back up last week’s win could steal one. Back Kasimpasa to end the hoodoo, but with the caveat that Konyaspor find the net too.