The Spanish top-flight returns to action after the winter break on Friday when Espanyol host Deportivo La Coruna at RCDE Stadium. Last season the two sides divided the points between them, with both winning the direct fixture at home. In fact, seven of the last nine direct meetings were won by the home side, while Deportivo have not won at Espanyol since 2007.
Espanyol are sailing comfortably in mid-table after 16 games, they are in ninth place and looking fairly well-balanced overall. They have lost just one of their last 10 league matches, and that was at Catalan rivals Barcelona in December. They have lost just two league matches at home and both were at the start of the season, since then they collected two wins and four draws in front of their own fans. Goalkeeper Diego Lopez is still injured, while striker Leo Baptistao will also miss out.
Deportivo have played really well in December, grabbing two wins out of three league matches and losing only to Real Madrid after having led them 2-1 at Santiago Bernabeu. They still have a long struggle ahead of them as they are just four points above the relegation zone, so anything they could get out of this game would be more than welcome. Carles Gil is the only injury concern, he is out with a knee problem.
Probable line-ups:
Espanyol: Roberto - Sanchez, Lopez, Reyes, Caricol - Perez, Jurado, Fuego, Piatti - Moreno, Caicedo
Deportivo: Tayton - Juanfran, Albentosa, Sidnei, Navarro - Borges, Guilherme - Gama, Colak, Moreno - Andone
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Espanyol win - 2.10
Draw - 3.30
Deportivo win - 3.75
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Comments (1)
sharpe
01/20/17, 01:01:58 AM
Espanyol is a team who very much counts on their home games but they didn't win that one. The two teams exchanged two close goals in the middle of the second half...
Espanyol is a team who very much counts on their home games but they didn't win that one. The two teams exchanged two close goals in the middle of the second half and the game on the way of a deserved draw but there was a late drama in witch La Coruna player was sent off for a foul outside penalty box according to referee but it should it be a penalty kick in the 90th minute I think.
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