Espanyol vs Girona Preview: Team News & Prediction
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We have a Catalan derby on Friday evening in La Liga with neither side having played in the Copa del Rey in midweek due to elimination as Espanyol take on Girona.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so any game may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Player / Disney+ / US – ESPN+
Espanyol preview: Impressive Espanyol
Espanyol come into this one on the back of a 1-1 draw with Levante at Estadio Ciutat de Valencia last weekend, with Iker Losada cancelling out Carlos Romero’s opener for Espanyol against a Levante side that are showing major signs of improvement.
Espanyol, like in the previous week in their 2-0 defeat at home to city rivals Barcelona, were the better side in that game and will not be too discouraged as they sit just outside of the top four in La Liga ahead of this match day.
Girona preview: Improved Girona
After a disgruntled and, frankly, appalling start to the season marred by Michel being very irritated by the running of the club, Girona have been majorly improved in performance level for months and now in terms of results for weeks.
They have returned from the mid-season winter break with back-to-back victories, making it three wins in their last four matches, having edged past Osasuna by a goal to nil at Montilivi in their most recent outing, last weekend.
Espanyol team news: Pol Lozano suspended
Having been sent off in that aforementioned game against Barca a couple of weeks ago, Espanyol are without midfielder Pol Lozano, who is missing through suspension.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Fernando Calero, Leandro Cabrera, Carlos Romero; Jofre Carreras, Edu Exposito, Urko Gonzalez, Dolan; Kike, Pere Milla
Unavailable: Pol Lozano (Suspended)
Questionable:
Girona team news: Kourouma suspended
Lass Kourouma was sent off late on against Osasuna and he is now missing through suspension, while Azzedine Ounahi is away at CAF Africa Cup of Nations with Axel Witsel still out injured.
Predicted XI (4-5-1): Paulo Gazzaniga; Hugo Rincon, Reis, Blind, Alex Moreno; Tsygankov, Arnau Martinez, Ivan Martin, Lemar, Bryan Gil; Vanat
Unavailable: Juan Carlos (Injured), Ricard Artero (Injured), Van de Beek (Injured), Witsel (Injured), Ounahi (International duty), Kourouma (Suspended), Portu (Injured), Abel Ruiz (Injured)
Questionable:
Espanyol vs Girona prediction
Following the takeover of Burnley owner Alan Pace in the summer, Espanyol have continued to evolve their style under Manolo Gonzalez and they can often be a very fun watch as they ambitiously overperform and target European qualification. Girona are much-improved with Ukraine internationals Viktor Tsygankov and Vladyslav Vanat putting in excellent performances in the final third. Both teams scoring seems a good bet for what should be an entertaining derby at the RCDE Stadium.
Espanyol vs Girona tip: Both teams to score
