If you think the trendlines of Turkish football are set in stone, get ready for an earthquake at Papara Park. October 25th isn’t just another Süper Lig fixture—it’s a tectonic collision of ambition and desperation, a living, breathing crossroads moment that will send shockwaves through both ends of the table. Trabzonspor, steamrolling their way toward the summit, carry the momentum of a title chase that feels inevitable, while Eyüpspor, drowning in the quicksand of relegation, arrive clinging to hope and pride. This is the kind of matchup that forges legends or buries pretenders—there’s no middle ground.
Let’s not kid ourselves: Trabzonspor are the story of this league so far. Second in the standings, 20 points from 9 games, and the scent of silverware thick in the Black Sea air. Their last five? Three wins, a draw, a single stumble against the giants of Fenerbahce. This is a machine firing on every piston, with Felipe Augusto’s explosiveness on the left, Okay Yokuşlu’s imperial midfield command, and—above all—the unstoppable Paul Onuachu, who is rewriting the laws of Süper Lig gravity week after week. Onuachu has scored in four straight matches, bullying defenses, towering above markers, and finishing with a cold-blooded certainty that makes you question if there’s even a defender in Turkey capable of handling him. If Eyüpspor want to survive, they’ll need to figure out the unsolvable: how do you stop a striker who scores every kind of goal, from tap-ins to towering headers?
Eyüpspor’s tale is brutally different—a team staring into the abyss, winless in their last five, rooted in 16th place with just five lonely points. They haven’t found the net in their last five matches, a stat so grim it borders on tragicomedy. It’s not that they lack effort or resilience; it’s that their attack has been anemic, predictable, and easy to snuff out. The 0-1 defeat at Kocaelispor summed it up: possession without purpose, huffing and puffing without ever threatening to blow the house down. If there’s a spark, it must come from somewhere unexpected—a moment of madness, a lucky break, or a forgotten hero rising in the noise of Papara Park.
But this is football, and arrogance is always punished. Trabzonspor’s heavy favorites tag is a double-edged sword. Pressure mounts; expectations suffocate. There’s barely any room for error. If they show even a flicker of complacency, if their full-backs get too adventurous or Yokuşlu is even slightly off his tempo, a desperate Eyüpspor could sucker-punch them. Football history is littered with the corpses of favorites who never saw the underdog coming.
Still, the eye test and the numbers don’t lie. Trabzonspor are averaging over two goals per game in their last five; Eyüpspor haven’t scored in over 450 minutes of league football. This isn’t a clash between equals—this is a predator circling wounded prey. The tactical battle hinges on whether Eyüpspor can bunker in, frustrate, and pray for a set piece miracle, or if they’ll be forced to open up and get torn to ribbons by Trabzon’s tornado of attacking movement.
Key battles? Start in the air and the box. Onuachu vs Eyüpspor’s battered center-backs: this could be a mismatch of historic proportions. Then there’s Felipe Augusto, whose pace and cut-ins are a nightmare for any right-back, let alone one on a confidence crisis. Eyüpspor’s only hope is a herculean defensive display and a keeper standing on his head. If they concede early—and with Trabzonspor’s blistering starts, that’s brutally likely—this could get ugly, fast.
And yet, stakes make men do wild things. For Trabzonspor, this isn’t just about three points—it’s about signaling intent, demoralizing chasers, and pounding their name into the championship conversation with authority. For Eyüpspor, this is survival. The spark that can ignite a resurrection, the one performance that turns five months of agony into a season-defining story.
But make no mistake: I see a statement rout on the horizon. Trabzonspor will attack from the opening whistle, Onuachu will notch at least a brace, and by the final whistle, the gulf between these two sides will be plain as day. Expect a 3-0, maybe 4-0 demolition. And watch the floodgates open on the championship talk—after this weekend, nobody can doubt that Trabzonspor are not just chasing the title, but defining it.
Eyüpspor? They’ll need a miracle, and in this league, sometimes miracles happen. But not this time, not in Papara Park, not with Trabzonspor this ruthless, this motivated, this close to destiny.