Paul Onuachu, di Super Eagles striker, dey arrive matchweek seven still dey adjust to life as di second biggest name for Trabzonspor team sheet, now wey Mohamed Salah summer arrival don turn di Black Sea club into one of di most talked about sides for Turkish football dis season.
Trabzonspor sit seventh for Süper Lig table on 10 points from six matches, five places and six points above home side Samsunspor, who don lose four league matches in a row and never win at Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadyumu all season heading into Saturday, October 10, 2026.
Preparations ahead of di match against Samsunspor don complete. Trabzonspor English post am on October 9, 2026.
Opposite Fink for technical area na Thomas Reis, who manage Samsunspor through di 2024-25 season and into di following campaign before him exit earlier for 2026 clear di way for Fink own appointment, and who only take di Trabzonspor job after defeat at Konyaspor last month. Saturday na di first time Reis go face him former club since he leave.
Samsunspor don lose four league matches in a row since 2-0 win away at Rizespor on August 22, a run wey include defeats to Fenerbahçe, Kocaelispor, Çorum FK and Erzurumspor FK, di heaviest a 5-1 collapse at home to Çorum on September 12. Dat sequence leave Samsunspor 16th on four points from six matches with goal difference of -6, and dem don take only one point from three league games at home dis season, conceding more than three goals a game in dat run.
Trabzonspor don steady without being spectacular, a 5-0 home win over Gençlerbirliği on September 6 and a 4-0 win over Galatasaray on September 19 sandwiching a 1-0 defeat at Konyaspor, di result wey trigger Reis appointment. Trabzonspor sit seventh on 10 points from six matches with goal difference of +8, though three away league games don bring only a single point, a draw either side of two defeats on di road.
Di two sides don meet five times for league since di start of 2024, with Samsunspor taking two wins, two draws and one defeat, including 3-1 win for Samsun in May 2024 before Trabzonspor win 3-0 in February dis year, di most recent league meeting between dem. Their most recent meeting for any competition come in April, when Trabzonspor eliminate Samsunspor from di Turkish Cup on penalties after goalless draw, a result wey leave Trabzonspor unbeaten in four meetings across all competitions.
Both sides go enter Saturday with injury lists long enough to shape team selection rather than just squad depth. Samsunspor dey without four senior attackers through injury, a blow wey don already thin Fink attacking options over di last month. Afonso Sousa don out since early September with muscle and hamstring problem and he only just working back towards full fitness, while Elayis Tavşan remain out with muscle injury and fractured toe wey he pick up in August. Fatih Kaya still dey manage adductor strain from di Fenerbahçe match and Kouadou Assoumou don miss games since mid-August with torn thigh muscle, leaving Fink to lean more heavily on Emre Kılınç and Saikuba Jarju out wide.
Trabzonspor carry their own list of absentees, with Ruslan Malinovsky and Tim Jabol-Folcarelli both ruled out for di longer term and a handful of fitness doubts including Ernest Muçi, Okay Yokuşlu and Stefan Savić, di latter likely to hand a start to Samet Akaydin alongside Super Eagles defender Chibuike Nwaiwu. Super Eagles striker Onuachu don get him injury concerns dis season, but he now back in action, fully fit, and ready to go.
Salah don be di headline act since him August move, seven goals and two assists from six Süper Lig appearances already make am di division joint top scorer, while Onuachu return of two goals from four starts come with less fanfare but real purpose for a side now built to feed off him aerial presence and Salah craft in behind him. Kılınç remain Samsunspor most productive attacker in a difficult campaign, with one goal and one assist from six league appearances, a role wey don only grow as Sousa, Tavşan and Kaya don drop out of contention.
Thorsten Fink don dey in charge of Samsunspor since February, arriving after a spell at Belgian club Genk, where he top di table before him December dismissal, and an earlier stint at Swiss side Basel, where he win back to back league titles between 2009 and 2011. Him appointment follow Samsunspor decision to part with Thomas Reis, who now Fink opposite number on Saturday having taken di Trabzonspor job last month. Reis don lose just one match in him short time at Trabzonspor so far, di 4-0 win over Galatasaray on September 19 remain him only game in charge before Saturday.
Reis dey expected to set Trabzonspor up in 4-2-3-1, with Salah operating off di right and drifting inside to link with Onuachu, while Ozan Tufan and Noah Saviolo complete attacking three asked to stretch a Samsunspor defence wey don concede more than three goals a game at home dis season. Fink own 4-2-3-1 lean on Kılınç and Saikuba Jarju providing width around central striker Mohamed Bayo, with Celil Yüksel and Elliot Watt screening a back four missing di pace of di injured Sousa out wide.
Trabzonspor double pivot of Melih Kabasakal and Batista Mendy go need to control di tempo against a Samsunspor midfield wey don show say dem fit be bypassed quickly, four goals conceded inside di first half against Çorum FK a recent example. Samsunspor don fail to score in three of their last five matches in all competitions, and Trabzonspor don win back to back matches by two or more clear goals twice already dis season, both trends supporting a disciplined Trabzonspor performance at Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadyumu.
