Trabzonspor Away at Samsunspor: Five Absent Names and 153 Days Waiting for an Away Win

A squad list always tells two stories at once. The first is the names that are present. The second — and usually the real story — is the names that are absent. When Trabzonspor announced their squad for the away trip to Samsunspor on Süper Lig matchday 7, the most telling part was the empty space: Ruslan Malinovskyi, Umut Nayir, Okay Yokuşlu, young goalkeeper Onuralp Çevikkan and Batagov are all unavailable. Five names, five different positions, and a question no press release answers.

The match takes place today at Samsunspor's ground. For a team that had just demolished Galatasaray 4-0 before the international break, those absences are not merely a personnel issue — they are a test of squad depth. And in a season where fixture congestion grows ever harsher, squad depth is the very thing that decides the final league position.

Injuries do not begin at the moment of collision; they begin with a signal everyone chose to ignore. Over years of following Turkish football, I have learned that an absentee list is never random. It is the result of a chain of decisions: fixture density, training load, rotation, and sometimes sheer complacency. The five names outside Trabzonspor's plans today tell a story about the price of a packed calendar — and about a club trying to balance ambition with the survival of its squad.

Context: The race on the Black Sea

Trabzonspor enter matchday 7 with 10 points from six games, sitting seventh. Opponents Samsunspor have collected only 4 points and lie 16th — a gap wide enough for the visitors to feel confident, yet narrow enough for the hosts to fight for survival. This Black Sea derby always carries a weight of its own, beyond the value of three points.

The most striking thing about Trabzonspor this season is a strange split between home and away. At home, the red-and-blues have won all three matches. Away, they have just a single point, from a 1-1 draw with Kasımpaşa on the opening weekend. Then came two straight defeats: 2-1 at Amed on matchday 3 and 1-0 at Konyaspor on matchday 5. The figure of 153 days without an away win is a stain this club is desperate to erase.

Their last away victory came on matchday 33 of last season, a 2-1 win over Beşiktaş in Istanbul on May 9, 2026. Since then, nothing on the road. This is not merely a statistical problem — it is a psychological one. Every away trip becomes a burden, and the heavier the burden, the greater the chance of error.

The 4-0 win over Galatasaray before the international break was a strong statement. But as I often tell colleagues, a handsome home result does not automatically translate into away form. If Trabzonspor beat Samsunspor today, they will win two consecutive matches for the first time this season. That psychological milestone matters far more than it appears.

Head-to-head: an overwhelming tradition meets a balanced reality

This will be the 57th meeting between the two clubs in the Süper Lig. In the previous 56, Trabzonspor held a clear edge with 31 wins to Samsunspor's 13; 12 ended in draws. On goals, the visitors have scored 101 to their opponents' 49. These are numbers that speak of an overwhelming tradition.

But the head-to-head record away from home paints a very different picture. In 28 meetings in Samsun, each side has won 10 and 8 have been drawn. There is no superiority at all. Samsunspor's stadium is a genuine "forbidden zone" for Trabzonspor — where an overwhelming tradition is flattened into parity.

Last season, it was precisely this away trip that ended Trabzonspor's four-match winless run. They left with a 3-0 victory — one of the most impressive results of the campaign. Before that, across their previous four matches, they had drawn two and lost two. The 3-0 win in Samsun was the full stop at the end of that difficult spell. But that is the past. And in football, the past is only useful when it is nourished by current form.

The medical room: where the real stories begin

Back to the absentee list. The five names — Malinovskyi, Nayir, Yokuşlu, Çevikkan and Batagov — are not merely five individual losses. They represent a familiar pattern: when fixture density rises, muscle and tendon injuries arrive in clusters. Fixture density is the single biggest culprit behind injuries; no medical staff can save a squad playing twice a week.

I have seen this before. In 2026, while working as a liaison reporter with a mid-table club's team doctor, I tracked a striker with a hamstring problem who was nonetheless kept on the pitch. GPS data showed abnormal running intensity, but no one listened. The result was a complete hamstring tear and eight months out. Lesson one: when the press room is empty, interview the silence itself. Since then, I have always asked the opposite question to the official line: when everyone asks "who will play?", I ask "why is he not playing?".

In Trabzonspor's case, the absence of four injured players and one not yet physically ready tells a single story: this club is managing risk carefully. Batagov has completed treatment but is not yet fit enough to play. Not risking him is a sign of professionalism — better to lose one match than an entire season.

Malinovskyi's absence is especially notable. The Ukrainian midfielder is the type of player capable of producing a moment of magic, someone who can change a game with a pass or a shot from distance. Without him, Trabzonspor lose an important attacking option. Likewise, Okay Yokuşlu — the defensive midfielder, the shield in front of the back line — is also out. The midfield will have to be rebuilt entirely.

Umut Nayir, another attacking option, is also missing. That means the goalscoring burden will fall on the remaining players, and the coach must make do with a thinner attack than usual.

Good news: the return of Jabol-Folcarelli

Not everything is gloomy. Tim Jabol-Folcarelli, the 26-year-old central midfielder, has completed his treatment and has been included in the squad for the Samsunspor match. He is expected to come on in the second half. The return of a central midfielder can change the rhythm of a game — especially on an away trip where Trabzonspor need to control the ball.

This is a textbook illustration of a principle I always stress: returning from injury is not an event, it is a process. Bringing Jabol-Folcarelli on from the bench, rather than starting him, is sensible load management. A player needs time for the body to reacclimatise to peak match intensity. Between me and the team doctor there is a question that has never been spoken aloud — and the answer usually lies in the minutes allocated, not in the name on the list.

The milestone of Mustafa Eskihellaç

Today's match also carries special meaning for Mustafa Eskihellaç. The 29-year-old left-back has made 60 official appearances for Trabzonspor, and the Samsunspor game will be his 61st. For a wing player, maintaining a presence across multiple seasons is no small achievement, especially as modern football increasingly favours full-backs who can run and cross like midfielders.

I maintain that traditional wingers are underrated in modern tactical trends. As clubs increasingly favour inverted wingers to create numerical superiority in central areas, the role of the pure full-back is overlooked. But clubs like Trabzonspor still need someone who can hold the width and deliver crosses from the flank — which is why Eskihellaç still has a place.

Referee Oğuzhan Çakır

A small but noteworthy detail: the referee for the match is Oğuzhan Çakır, from the Balıkesir region. In the four matches Trabzonspor have had him in charge, the club has won two, drawn one and lost one. That is too small a sample to conclude anything, but in Turkish football, where referee debates regularly erupt, people still take note of such numbers.

A counter-intuitive angle: the Galatasaray win may be a trap

This is the section I want to dwell on most, because it runs against the intuition of the majority. The 4-0 win over Galatasaray was a perfect result — but it is precisely perfect home results that often conceal the problems that surface once a team leaves its comfort zone.

Look at the bigger picture: Trabzonspor have won all three home games but have just one point from three away games. This is no coincidence. It is the mark of a team dependent on the atmosphere and backing of its home crowd. Away from home, their tactical structure becomes more fragile, their pressing intensity drops, and the decisive moments rarely fall their way.

The 4-0 win over Galatasaray can create a false sense of security. I have seen many teams fall into this trap: a big win before the break, then a return with a complacent mindset and defeat in their first away trip. For a side desperate to end a 153-day away drought, that risk is real.

Moreover, the absences of Malinovskyi and Okay Yokuşlu significantly reduce Trabzonspor's ability to control the game in midfield. That means the midfield must be rebuilt entirely, and the balance between attack and defence can be broken. In an away derby, where pressure from the stands is enormous, a disrupted midfield is the ideal condition for the opposition to exploit.

As for Samsunspor, the 16th-placed side will fight with the spirit of a team that has nothing to lose. With 4 points from six games, they need points to escape the danger zone. A home derby is the ideal opportunity to spark a morale boost. And the away head-to-head record — 10 wins apiece — shows this is not a "forbidden zone" Trabzonspor can easily breach.

The dressing-room door has no nameplate, but I learned to knock with precision. That means I do not rely on flowery pre-match statements, but on data and behaviour. And the data here says: Trabzonspor are a strong home side and a fragile away side, with a severely damaged midfield, walking into an emotionally charged derby.

The bottom line and open questions

If Trabzonspor win, they will record back-to-back victories for the first time this season, erase the 153-day away drought, and move closer to the top group. If they lose or draw, the question of the club's away identity will resurface, and pressure will weigh on the coaching staff.

What interests me more than the result is how the club manages injury risk. Bringing Jabol-Folcarelli in gradually, not risking Batagov — those are sound decisions in sports medicine. But they also raise a bigger question: does Trabzonspor have enough depth to compete over a long season with a packed calendar?

In football, injuries are not just an individual player's problem. They are the problem of an entire system — from training planning and rotation to how the media handles pressure. Every time a name disappears from the matchday list, it is a signal. The question is not "how will the club cope?" but "why did we let things reach this point?".

For Trabzonspor, today's away trip to Samsun is a test. Not a test of talent — they have enough to win. It is a test of tactical maturity, of the ability to play well without a home crowd, and of the ability to overcome an ever-growing injury list. Turkish football always knows how to create big stories from Black Sea derbies. Tonight's question is simple: has the Black Sea club's ship truly left port, or is it merely rocking in the safe waters of its own harbour?