Onuachu returns for Samsunspor vs Trabzonspor: Preview, team news, h2h & more

Paul Onuachu, the Super Eagles striker, arrives at matchweek seven still adjusting to life as the second biggest name on Trabzonspor’s team sheet, now that Mohamed Salah’s summer arrival has turned the Black Sea club into one of Turkish football’s most talked about sides this season.

Trabzonspor sit seventh in the Süper Lig table on 10 points from six matches, five places and six points above home side Samsunspor, who have lost four league matches in a row and have not won at Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadyumu all season heading into Saturday, October 10, 2026.

Preparations ahead of the match against Samsunspor are completed. https://t.co/fV9hKwFISC

— Trabzonspor English (@TrabzonsporEN) October 9, 2026

Opposite Fink in the technical area is Thomas Reis, who managed Samsunspor through the 2024-25 season and into the following campaign before his exit earlier in 2026 cleared the way for Fink’s own appointment, and who only took the Trabzonspor job after a defeat at Konyaspor last month. Saturday is the first time Reis has faced his former club since leaving.

⚽ Samsunspor vs Trabzonspor
Competition	Süper Lig, Matchweek 7
Kickoff	Saturday, October 10, 2026 — 4:00pm Turkish time (2:00pm Nigeria time, WAT)
Venue	Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadyumu, Samsun
Where to Watch	Trabzonspor’s matches are now carried live in around forty countries following Salah’s move, starting with his native Egypt
Trabzonspor have won just one of their last three away league matches, while Samsunspor remain winless at home this season

Samsunspor vs Trabzonspor: Two Teams Enter Matchweek Seven In Contrasting Form

Samsunspor have lost four league matches in a row since a 2-0 win away at Rizespor on August 22, a run that includes defeats to Fenerbahçe, Kocaelispor, Çorum FK and Erzurumspor FK, the heaviest a 5-1 collapse at home to Çorum on September 12.

That sequence leaves Samsunspor 16th on four points from six matches with a goal difference of -6, and they have taken only one point from three league games at home this season, conceding more than three goals a game in that run.

Trabzonspor have been steadier 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, the result that triggered Reis’s appointment.

Trabzonspor sit seventh on 10 points from six matches with a goal difference of +8, though three away league games have brought only a single point, a draw either side of two defeats on the road.

Samsunspor vs Trabzonspor: Head-To-Head

The two sides have met five times in the league since the start of 2024, with Samsunspor taking two wins, two draws and one defeat, including a 3-1 win in Samsun in May 2024 before Trabzonspor won 3-0 in February this year, the most recent league meeting between them.

Their most recent meeting in any competition came in April, when Trabzonspor eliminated Samsunspor from the Turkish Cup on penalties after a goalless draw, a result that leaves Trabzonspor unbeaten in four meetings across all competitions.

Team News And Predicted Lineups

Both sides go into Saturday with injury lists long enough to shape team selection rather than just squad depth.

Samsunspor are without four senior attackers through injury, a blow that has already thinned Fink’s attacking options over the last month. Afonso Sousa has been out since early September with a muscle and hamstring problem and is only just working back towards full fitness, while Elayis Tavşan remains out with a muscle injury and a fractured toe picked up in August.

Fatih Kaya is still managing an adductor strain from the Fenerbahçe match and Kouadou Assoumou has missed games since mid-August with a 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 the longer term and a handful of fitness doubts including Ernest Muçi, Okay Yokuşlu and Stefan Savić, the latter likely to hand a start to Samet Akaydin alongside Super Eagles defender Chibuike Nwaiwu.

Super Eagles striker Onuachu has had his injury concerns this season, but he is now back in action, fully fit, and ready to go.

Samsunspor	Trabzonspor
Sousa — muscle/hamstring, working back to fitness Tavşan — muscle injury, fractured toe Kaya — adductor strain Assoumou — thigh muscle Öhlenschlaeger — knee doubt (single source)	Malinovsky — knee, longer-term Jabol-Folcarelli — meniscus, out until November Batahov — meniscus, fitness unconfirmed Muçi, Yokuşlu, Savić — fitness doubts Şimşir, Nayir, Çevikkan — minor doubts

Star Player Comparison: Salah’s Goals Against Kılınç’s Graft

Salah has been the headline act since his August move, seven goals and two assists from six Süper Lig appearances already making him the division’s joint top scorer, while Onuachu’s return of two goals from four starts has come with less fanfare but real purpose in a side now built to feed off his aerial presence and Salah’s craft in behind him.

Kılınç remains Samsunspor’s most productive attacker in a difficult campaign, with one goal and one assist from six league appearances, a role that has only grown as Sousa, Tavşan and Kaya have dropped out of contention.

Mohamed Salah Forward · Trabzonspor	Stat	Emre Kılınç Winger · Samsunspor
7	Goals	1
2	Assists	1
6	Appearances	6
8.15	Average Rating	7.16

The Managers: Fink’s Samsunspor Succession Comes Full Circle

Thorsten Fink has been in charge of Samsunspor since February, arriving after a spell at Belgian club Genk, where he topped the table before his December dismissal, and an earlier stint at Swiss side Basel, where he won back to back league titles between 2009 and 2011.

His appointment followed Samsunspor’s decision to part with Thomas Reis, who is now Fink’s opposite number on Saturday having taken the Trabzonspor job last month. Reis has lost just one match in his short time at Trabzonspor so far, the 4-0 win over Galatasaray on September 19 remaining his only game in charge before Saturday.

Tactical Preview: Can Samsunspor Contain Trabzonspor’s Front Three?

Reis is expected to set Trabzonspor up in a 4-2-3-1, with Salah operating off the right and drifting inside to link with Onuachu, while Ozan Tufan and Noah Saviolo complete an attacking three asked to stretch a Samsunspor defence that has conceded more than three goals a game at home this season.

Fink’s own 4-2-3-1 leans on Kılınç and Saikuba Jarju providing width around central striker Mohamed Bayo, with Celil Yüksel and Elliot Watt screening a back four missing the pace of the injured Sousa out wide.

Trabzonspor’s double pivot of Melih Kabasakal and Batista Mendy will need to control the tempo against a Samsunspor midfield that has shown it can be bypassed quickly, four goals conceded inside the first half against Çorum FK a recent example.

The Naija Slip: Four Bets For Samsunspor vs Trabzonspor

Samsunspor have failed to score in three of their last five matches in all competitions, and Trabzonspor have won back to back matches by two or more clear goals twice already this season, both trends supporting a disciplined Trabzonspor performance at Samsun Yeni 19 Mayıs Stadyumu.

Score Prediction

Trabzonspor carry the division’s form and firepower into Samsun, Salah has outscored every other player at the club already this season while Samsunspor’s attack has yet to click under Fink’s early defensive fixes, and a narrow away win fits both sides’ recent trend.

🔮 Samsunspor 0 – 1 Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor’s away form has stuttered but their firepower should be enough to edge a tight, low-scoring derby. Likely scorer: Mohamed Salah.