Rizespor vs Besiktas preview, h2h, tips & more: Ndidi targets solid close to Super Lig season

The final weekend of the Trendyol Super Lig season brings Caykur Rizespor and Besiktas together at the Caykur Didi Stadium in Rize on Friday, May 15, 2026, as the curtain comes down on what has been a fascinating campaign in Turkey’s top flight.

Besiktas travel to the Black Sea coast as confirmed occupants of fourth place in the table, with 59 points from 33 games, and with European football already in the bank for next season via a UEFA Conference League berth.

Rizespor, meanwhile, sit comfortably in eighth position with 40 points and have nothing to fear on the relegation front, making this a contest between two sides with pride rather than pressure on the line as the season draws to a close.

There is, however, an extra dimension to this fixture that gives it particular resonance for Nigerian football fans on both sides of the fence.

Ibrahim Olawoyin, the 28-year-old Super Eagles attacking midfielder who has made Rize his home since joining in January 2023, lines up against his international teammate Wilfried Ndidi, the former Leicester City stalwart now anchoring Besiktas’s midfield in his first season in the Bosphorus city.

Olawoyin has long been a fan favourite at the Caykur Didi, and the 2025/26 campaign has underlined just why the club have continued to trust in him.

He overcame an injury disruption in the early part of the campaign to make 23 league appearances this season, contributing two goals and an assist, and has been central to Rizespor’s ability to press high and transition quickly in attack.

His 100th appearance for the club, which came in December’s 3-0 win over Eyupspor, was a moment he described on social media as one of personal pride, and his enthusiasm and loyalty to the project in Rize make him central to Rizespor’s attacking play going into this final fixture.

Ndidi, meanwhile, has been a revelation since Besiktas moved to bring the Nigeria captain to Istanbul from Leicester City last summer.

The 29-year-old defensive midfielder, who spent the best part of a decade in the Premier League, has brought an entirely different level of composure and reading of the game to Besiktas’s engine room, making 22 starts in all competitions and contributing two goals and an assist despite operating in a primarily screening role.

A muscle injury kept him sidelined for a short spell in April, though he returned to full training around the time of the club’s clash with Antalyaspor and should be available here as Sergen Yalcin looks to end the season on a high note.

Match Preview: Rizespor vs Besiktas

This is, on paper, a dead rubber in terms of league positions, but that narrative does not quite capture what is at stake for both clubs as they close their respective campaigns.

Besiktas arrive having already secured fourth place in the Super Lig, which guarantees them a place in the UEFA Conference League next season, but Sergen Yalcin will be keen to ensure his side finish on a winning note ahead of what promises to be a crucial summer of squad restructuring.

The Black Eagles’ attack has been spearheaded since January by El Bilal Touré, the Malian striker on loan from Atalanta who stepped into the void left by Tammy Abraham’s departure to Aston Villa and has contributed five league goals, while Orkun Kökçü has been the standout creative force with seven goals and consistent involvement across 26 league outings.

Portuguese forward Rafa Silva has also been a consistent presence with five goals in 11 league appearances, giving Besiktas multiple attacking threats heading into the final weekend.

The Black Eagles have had a mixed season by their own high standards, accumulating 59 points, 17 wins, eight draws and eight defeats, with 57 goals scored and 38 conceded.

That points tally represents a reasonable return for a club of Besiktas’s stature, though the gap to the top three has been significant, with Galatasaray romping to the title on 77 points and Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor firmly occupying the two European spots directly above them.

Yalcin, who returned to the club for a second managerial stint in August 2025 after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was dismissed following the side’s Conference League exit, has done enough to stabilise a squad that had cycled through multiple managers in recent seasons.

He has spoken in press conferences this spring about the need to close the gap to the top three and has signalled his ambitions to bring new quality into the squad in the summer window.

Rizespor’s season, while ultimately mid-table in outcome, has contained moments to celebrate.

They sit eighth on 40 points, the product of 10 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses, with 44 goals scored against 50 conceded, and manager Recep Ucar, who took charge in December 2025, has steadied the ship after a turbulent start to the campaign under the previous coaching staff.

The Caykur Didi crowd have witnessed some enterprising football at home this season, and Rizespor’s attack, led by striker Ali Sowe, has shown the capacity to trouble better defences than Besiktas’s on their day.

The real creative force driving Rizespor this season has been Albanian midfielder Qazim Laci, who leads the squad in both league goals with seven and assists with nine, earning a team-high rating of 7.27 from across the campaign.

Sowe has nonetheless been a consistent threat up front with six league goals, while Romanian winger Valentin Mihaila has added five more to give Rizespor genuine cutting edge on the flanks.

Rizespor’s home form this season has been reasonable rather than outstanding, and facing a Besiktas side with quality in every area of the pitch represents a stern examination of their defensive resilience at a venue that holds just under 15,000 supporters.

Head-to-Head: Rizespor vs Besiktas

The history between these two sides makes for stark reading if you are a Rizespor supporter.

Across 56 recorded meetings, Besiktas have come out on top on 35 occasions, while Rizespor have claimed victory in only 11, with 10 draws scattered throughout the fixture’s history.

Besiktas have scored 111 goals in those encounters compared to 56 from their opponents, and the Black Eagles have dominated this particular rivalry across the decades.

The recent chapter of this fixture tells its own story: Besiktas won 4-0 at the Caykur Didi in January 2024, one of the more emphatic results in recent seasons between the clubs.

The sides then drew 1-1 at the same venue in January 2025, before Rizespor claimed a notable 2-1 win at Besiktas’s Tupras Stadyumu ground in May 2025, one of only a handful of times the Black Sea side have returned from Istanbul with maximum points.

Besiktas restored the balance in the reverse fixture earlier this season, edging a tight contest 1-0 in Istanbul on December 20, 2025, and Yalcin will be hoping his side can close out the league campaign with another positive result against the same opponents.

On average, this fixture has produced around 2.88 goals per game historically, and both teams have scored in a significant portion of their meetings, making it a matchup that tends to deliver entertainment even if the overall narrative favours Besiktas.

Team News

Rizespor Outs and Doubts

Rizespor head into the final weekend without Uzbek defender Khusniddin Alikulov, who is out with a long-term cruciate ligament injury and is not expected to return until October 2026.

The good news for Ucar is that his squad is otherwise relatively healthy, and he should have the majority of his regular starting options available for selection ahead of what is a chance to finish the campaign on a positive home note.

Olawoyin, who missed an extended spell earlier in the campaign through injury, has settled back into the rhythm of regular starts and is expected to operate in his customary number ten role behind Sowe.

Mihaila is likely to continue his run of form on the right flank, while Altin Zeqiri provides an option from the bench if a change of personnel is required.

Besiktas Outs and Doubts

Besiktas are without winger Milot Rashica, who continues to be sidelined by a knee injury with no confirmed return date as of this writing.

Kartal Yilmaz picked up an ankle problem and has a confirmed return date of May 18, placing him firmly beyond this fixture and ruling him out with certainty.

Ndidi is the key selection boost for Yalcin, having returned to training around mid-April following his muscle problem and looking sharp in the sessions building up to this weekend’s fixture.

His ability to screen the back four and dictate possession transitions will be crucial against a Rizespor side that can exploit spaces on the counter.

Rizespor Predicted XI

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Yahia Fofana; Samet Akaydin, Casper Højer Nielsen, Attila Mocsi, Taha Sahin; Taylan Antalyali, Muhamed Buljubasic; Valentin Mihaila, Qazim Laci, Ibrahim Olawoyin; Ali Sowe

Besiktas Predicted XI

Formation: 4-3-3

Devis Vásquez; Amir Murillo, Emmanuel Agbadou, Tiago Djaló, Rıdvan Yılmaz; Wilfried Ndidi, Orkun Kökçü, Rafa Silva; Václav Černý, El Bilal Touré, Oh Hyeon-gyu.

The Managers

Recep Ucar (Rizespor)

Recep Ucar took charge of Rizespor in December 2025 as the club sought stability after a turbulent opening to the campaign, becoming the latest in a series of managerial changes at the club in recent years.

The 50-year-old Turkish coach has brought a measured, organised approach to Rizespor’s setup and deserves credit for guiding the team to an eighth-place finish that, while unspectacular, represents a solid mid-table outcome for a side of limited resources.

His preference for a disciplined 4-2-3-1 shape has given the squad a clear structure, and he has made good use of the attacking quality at his disposal, particularly in the way he has positioned Olawoyin as the creative hub between midfield and attack.

The final day of the season offers him a chance to sign off with a result that would give the fanbase real optimism heading into the summer.

Sergen Yalcin (Besiktas)

Few figures in Turkish football carry the kind of romantic weight that Sergen Yalcin does at Besiktas.

A club legend from his playing days, Yalcin’s second stint as manager got under way in August 2025 after the club’s controversial decision to dismiss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and he hit the ground running with a 4-0 victory over Kayserispor in his opening fixture back in the technical area.

Now 53, Yalcin is the only individual in Turkish football history to have won the Super Lig as both a player and a manager with Besiktas, and his desire to add to that legacy is unmistakable.

This season has not quite reached the heights many hoped for in terms of challenging the Galatasaray-Fenerbahce duopoly, but fourth place and a return to European football are a platform he can build from with a full pre-season behind him ahead of 2026/27.

He has spoken warmly about Ndidi’s influence since the Nigerian’s return from injury, and the Besiktas manager will be hoping to send the club’s travelling support home happy from the Black Sea on Friday evening.

Tactical Preview

This is a matchup between two teams who operate in broadly similar structures but with quite different emphases in how they go about their football.

Rizespor’s 4-2-3-1 under Ucar prioritises compactness and quick transitions, using Olawoyin’s mobility in the ten position to link play and create overloads in central areas.

Ali Sowe’s physicality up front is designed to hold the ball and allow Mihaila and the wide men to flood forward on the counter, and at home this system has created problems for visiting sides who are too aggressive in pushing their fullbacks forward.

Besiktas under Yalcin have typically operated from a 4-3-3, one that relies on Ndidi sitting in front of the defence and recycling possession while two more dynamic midfielders operate either side of him.

Their width comes from the front three, and the team’s best attacking moments this season have come from quick, incisive combination play through the lines, unlocking compact blocks with movement rather than patient buildup.

The key tactical battle here is likely to unfold in the central midfield zone, where Ndidi’s screening against Rizespor’s double pivot will determine whether the Black Eagles can build through the centre or are forced to go around.

If Rizespor are able to disrupt Besiktas’s rhythm in the middle of the park with pressing and physicality, Ucar’s side will feel they have a chance of exploiting any spaces left behind an aggressive Besiktas defensive line.

Conversely, if Ndidi wins his midfield duels and Besiktas are able to transition with pace, the directness of El Bilal Touré and the movement of Václav Černý in the final third should give them the edge in a match where neither team has a dominant incentive to defend deep.

Rizespor’s left side could be exposed if Besiktas use their right flank aggressively, and Yalcin may look to target that corridor specifically given how Rizespor have conceded a number of goals down their left channel at home this season.

It is worth noting that the absence of meaningful stakes can sometimes produce unpredictable results, and Rizespor are not without the tools to upset the odds on their own patch.

Qazim Laci’s creative spark and Sowe’s relentless running give the home side a credible attacking threat, and this is a fixture that has historically been tighter than the overall H2H record suggests.

That said, the weight of expectation, squad quality and Besiktas’s motivation to sign off in style all point toward a narrow away win on Friday evening on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.