A look at the top Turkish League table at the moment for non-followers of the league would seem unfamiliar. No Galatasaray, no Fernabache or Besiktas but little known Istanbul Basaksehir lead the table six points ahead of their closest rivals.
The club have been able to put across a team of Premier League misfits in their early to mid-thirties combined with some quality additions such as Arda Turan. Last season the Istanbul outfit lead the league for long periods but lost the title finishing 3 points of the top and surprisingly dropped out of the champions league spot.
This season looks different, there is a new found resilience in the squad with the experience of coming close last season. Basaksehir has won the most games lost the fewest and conceded a league-low 11 goals all season. despite not scoring a lot of goals their defensive resilience has been the major factor in this run.
Also the addition of star quality of Adebayor last season has helped with the former Arsenal man scoring 23 goals since the start of last season. although he has been restricted to 8 starts this season Adebayor has contributed 2 goals and assists for the club.
The addition of Demba Ba from Chinese Shanghai Shenhua in January shows the club willingness to rectify their goalscoring issues. The former Chelsea man is a quality player on his day and can provide the necessary goals to push the team over the line.