The Black Sea derby on 10 October 2026 has a storyline that writes itself: Thomas Reis leads Trabzonspor into Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadium for his first away league fixture against the club he walked out on in February. Samsunspor sit 16th with just four points from six games and desperately need a result, having conceded heavily in almost every match this season, whereas Trabzonspor arrive in seventh with ten points, buoyed by a 4-0 dismantling of Galatasaray.
Reis faces his former employers for the first time since departing in February 2026, having replaced Fatih Tekke at Trabzonspor on 17 September. Thorsten Fink inherited the Samsunspor job Reis vacated, taking charge on 16 February 2026.
Samsunspor's recent sequence reads L-L-L-L-W, the solitary win coming against Erzurumspor FK and sandwiched between a 1-5 thrashing by Çorum FK and a 0-1 reverse to the same opponent. Trabzonspor's form has been more mixed but ultimately more productive at W-L-W-L-W, with the 4-0 league win over Galatasaray in September the standout result.
Samsunspor have no reported absences and can field a near full strength squad, with Emre Kılınç at no.10, striker Mohamed Bayo still searching for his first league goal of the campaign and Logi Tómasson in central defence. Trabzonspor are rather more disrupted: Ruslan Malinovskyi is ruled out long term alongside Tim Jabol-Folcarelli, Okay Yokuşlu is a doubt with a muscle problem and Umut Nayir remains sidelined by a hip injury. Those absences force Reis to lean on Fabinho in midfield and Paul Onuachu as the main target up front, with Mohamed Salah operating alongside him.
Samsunspor have scored just once in their last four league outings and Fink will need Emre Kılınç to be considerably more decisive if that is going to change against this Trabzonspor side. Tómasson's positioning will be tested repeatedly by Salah, who arrives in hat trick form and will look to exploit the gaps behind a defence that has already shipped twelve goals in six matches. Trabzonspor thrive in transition and Reis may sacrifice some creativity to keep the shape solid, trusting Salah to be decisive on the counter.
Trabzonspor are unbeaten in the last four meetings, including a 3-0 win at this venue in February 2026 and a 0-0 Turkish Cup draw in April 2026. Reis was in the opposing dugout for that February result, coaching Samsunspor at the time but the unbeaten run belongs to Trabzonspor regardless of who was calling the shots.
Samsunspor need the points to climb out of the relegation places and both sides are expected to line up in 4-2-3-1 formations. The prediction is 1-2: Reis's familiarity with Samsunspor's setup is a real advantage, Salah looks the most likely match winner and Emre Kılınç the most likely source of a consolation rather than a comeback.
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?.
