Samsunspor host Amed SK at the Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadyumu on 24 October 2026, a Süper Lig Matchday 9 fixture that pits a side fighting for survival under a new manager against an unbeaten promotion outfit chasing the leaders, with Nenad Bjelica and Besnik Hasi facing each other in competitive football for the first time.
Samsunspor arrive on the back of five consecutive league defeats, the most recent a 1-4 home thrashing by Kasımpaşa that prompted Bjelica's appointment and left them 17th with just four points from eight matches. Amed SK are second with 17 points and a nine-goal advantage, having extended an unbeaten run to six league games with a 1-0 win over Konyaspor and sitting just behind Galatasaray at the top.
Bjelica takes charge of his first home game after replacing Thorsten Fink, who had himself taken over from Thomas Reis earlier in the campaign and it is a difficult inheritance. Celil Yüksel is ruled out with a hamstring, hip and thigh problem, Fatih Kaya remains sidelined by a rib fracture and J. Assoumou is absent with a muscle injury, leaving the home side running thin in defensive and midfield depth. Amed are not without their own problems: Lumbardh Dellova is out until early November with a muscle injury, Yira Sor is doubtful, Dilhan Demir is unavailable due to a long term ACL injury and Muhammed Yildirim is also missing. Dellova's absence hurts most because he was the organiser in a backline that has otherwise performed well this season and Hasi will need to adjust his defensive structure accordingly.
Both sides set up in a 4-2-3-1, though what each team does with it looks very different. Samsunspor under Bjelica are expected to sit deeper and use the ball quickly on the counter, relying on Tanguy Coulibaly's pace out wide and Mohamed Bayo as the striker he targets on the break, with Emre Kılınç providing set piece threat and Elliot Watt tasked with screening the defence. The injury absences make all of this more precarious than it sounds, because without Yüksel, Kaya and Assoumou, the home side may struggle to maintain shape when Amed press high.
Amed's game is built on high pressing and fast transitions, with Gift Orban leading the line and seven league goals already to his name, while Dia Saba operates in behind contributing goals and assists and Rayan Raveloson breaks up play and restarts attacks quickly. Dellova's absence will blunt their build-up from the back somewhat but Amed's attacking options run several players deep and that is unlikely to matter much.
Whether Watt or Raveloson wins the midfield battle could prove decisive. If Watt disrupts Amed's rhythm, Samsunspor have a route to goal through Coulibaly and Bayo on the counter. If Raveloson takes control and Orban and Saba receive service in dangerous positions, Amed's pace in transition is likely to overwhelm a defence already stretched by absences. Bjelica's challenge is to build compactness without sitting so deep that Coulibaly and Bayo are isolated when the ball is won.
The clubs have minimal top flight history given Amed's promotion this season and the one result worth mentioning, a 3-0 Samsunspor win at home in February 2020, came in a different competitive context and tells us very little about what to expect here. Referee Kadir Sağlam carries a high cards average and is unlikely to let things get away from him, though that cuts both ways. Set pieces could matter for Samsunspor, who may look to Kılınç and Bayo to threaten from dead ball situations while defending deep and Amed pose danger from wide deliveries and second phase situations too, so the home crowd's appetite for early signs of life under Bjelica may shape the game's tempo as much as anything tactical.
TheyScored.com predicts a 2-2 draw. Samsunspor have the tools to hurt Amed on the counter and a more organised defensive display under Bjelica is not unreasonable to expect even with Yüksel, Kaya and Assoumou all missing. With Dellova absent and Sor doubtful, though, a makeshift backline without its first choice cover will struggle to hold against Orban's movement and Amed's attacking depth gives Hasi more solutions than Bjelica currently has. The visitors should find the net more than once but Samsunspor's desperation for points makes a passive performance unlikely and Coulibaly and Bayo give them enough on the counter to stay in it. Amed's attacking quality should overwhelm the home side's missing cover but probably not by enough to put the game away against a side with nothing left to lose, which is why 2-2 makes sense.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
