The second half of the 2017-18 Super League İlhan Cavcav season will begin today as Kasımpaşa hosts Aytemiz Alanyaspor at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stadium in Istanbul. Kasımpaşa finished the first half of the season with 19 points in 11th place while Aytemiz Alanyaspor stands in 13th place with 18 points. Meanwhile, the powerhouse Fenerbahçe will host Göztepe in Istanbul on Saturday. With 33 points Fenerbahçe is chasing Başakşehir, which leads the league with 36 points.
Başakşehir strengthened its squad even further by signing Arda Turan from Barcelona. The team will meet with Bursaspor in an away match and try to keep its point difference with its rivals. In the same day fourth placed Beşiktaş will be hosted by Antalyaspor while the runner-up Galatasaray will play the latest match of the week on Monday against Kayserispor in Kayseri. Galatasaray has 35 points and it begins the second half with its legendary coach Fatih Terim taking the helms and great expectations from fans. Başakşehir's position is not secure with Istanbul giants Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş all three on its tail.
Meanwhile, another Turkish powerhouse, Trabzonspor is placed seventh with 29 points. But whether the Black Sea team, celebrating its 50th year in the Super League, will be able to put up a title challenge still remains to be seen. Trabzonspor spent the first two months of the league near the relegation zone. But under new coach Rıza Çalımbay it bounced back and has won six out of the last nine games. As far as points difference go, the Turkish Super League is easily the most competitive in Europe at the moment with just seven points separating the top seven teams.
