As the Turkish Süper Lig season nears its boiling point, Istanbul archrivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe will lock horns on Sunday in a tie that might determine the eventual victor.
With Fenerbahçe on the hunt to clinch their first yet elusive league title since the 2013-14 season, the reigning champions Galatasaray will be on the lookout to make it twice in a row.
As it may be a norm, recent derbies between these fierce rivals reveal that the team scoring first often avoids defeat, making the battle for the first strike even more crucial than ever.
Over the past 29 years, in 61 league encounters, the team to draw first blood has only lost five times.
Galatasaray emerged victorious in 14 matches where they struck first, while the Yellow Canaries won 24 such encounters.
Out of these 61 games, eight ended in a draw with goals.
In six of those, Fenerbahçe scored first but the Lions managed to equalize.
Galatasaray, despite scoring first in four matches, could not prevent Fenerbahçe from turning the tables and winning.
A notable exception occurred in the 2019-2020 season at Kadıköy, where Fenerbahçe took an early lead but Galatasaray triumphed 3-1.
This was the first time Fenerbahçe lost a derby after leading in that period.
İsmail Kartal's men remain unbeaten when scoring first this season, with 29 wins out of 36 matches.
They have amassed points in every game where they netted the opening goal, drawing only twice against Samsunspor and Sivasspor.
Okan Buruk's troops, in contrast, lost points in just one match after scoring first this season.
They played 36 matches, dropping points in only 4 games – 3 draws and a loss to Hatayspor.
Notably, they scored first against Sivasspor but only managed a draw.
Despite trailing their upcoming opponents by six points in second, Fenerbahçe are the league's top scorer with 92 goals in 36 games, conceding 31.
As log leaders, Galatasaray, the second-highest scoring team with 89 goals, boast the best defensive record, allowing only 24 goals.
Galatasaray have won all 18 home games this season, leading the home standings with 54 points, scoring 51 goals and conceding 14.
Fenerbahçe, unbeaten away, have 15 wins and three draws from 18 away matches, amassing 48 points, scoring 39 and conceding 11.
All eyes will be on Galatasaray's Mauro Icardi and Fenerbahçe's Edin Dzeko.
Icardi leads the scoring chart with 23 goals in 32 matches, while Dzeko has 20 goals in 34 matches, trailing Icardi in the race for the top scorer title.
Galatasaray scored in 34 of 36 games, missing only in a goalless draw with Kayserispor and a 0-0 derby with Fenerbahçe in the first half of the season.
Fenerbahçe failed to score in three games, with goalless draws against Adana Demirspor and Konyaspor and the earlier derby against Galatasaray.
Both teams tend to score more in the second half.
Galatasaray have 49 second-half goals out of 89 total, while Fenerbahçe scored 50 second-half goals out of 92 total.
The match will kick off at 7:00 p.m at RAMS Park, where Galatasaray’s solid home form will be tested against Fenerbahçe’s impeccable away record.
With Icardi and Dzeko leading their respective sides, the battle for supremacy and the scoring title seems to be wide open.
