Getafe vs Espanyol Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Spanish football has been quite defensive for quite a while now as smaller teams try to emulate the success of Diego Simeone’s ‘Cholismo’ style at Atletico Madrid and these two sides are two of the most defensive sides in this season’s La Liga.
Kick-off date/time: Monday 9th December, 2024: UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 3:00pm / US PT – 12:00pm
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Getafe vs Espanyol may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
Getafe Preview: Jose Bordalas’ hostility
Jose Bordalas is known perhaps the most for his aggressive and hostile style of football that often has his teams sitting at the bottom of La Liga’s Fair Play table. Getafe have perhaps evolved that slightly but with a small and fairly weak squad, they are still reliant on being very aggressive towards their opposition to gain an advantage.
The home team come into this one on the back of a typically tedious game in midweek as they shared a goalless draw after extra-time with Orihuela and then eventually won on penalties. The Madrid-based club are the joint-lowest scorers in La Liga with just ten goals scored in their opening 15 matches.
Espanyol Preview: An average Espanyol
Espanyol lost manager Luis Garcia over the summer with B team coach Manolo Gonzalez given the job as the Catalans prepared for an inevitable struggle against the drop. They begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting firmly in the bottom three and the relegation places but they do come into this one on the back of a much-needed win.
The visitors put in an impressive performance to defeat Celta Vigo by three goals to one at the RCDE Stadium last weekend thanks to strikes from Irvin Cardona, Leandro Cabrera and Walid Cheddira. However, they were then embarrassed in midweek as lower league Barbastro defeated them by two goals to nil in the second round of the Copa del Rey the other day.
Getafe Team News: Attacking issues
The aforementioned shallow squad of Getafe has seen midfielder Christantus Uche used as a forward at times and he is now a key injury doubt for this weekend.
As well as the probable absence of Uche, former Barcelona midfielder Carles Alena is also an injury doubt alongside former Real Madrid striker Borja Mayoral.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): David Soria; Jorge Iglesias, Domingos Duarte, Aberdin, Diego Rico; Nyom, Luis Milla, Omar Alderete, Carles Perez; Mauro Arambarri, Alvaro
Unavailable:
Questionable: Carles Alena (Injured), Uche (Injured), Borja Mayoral (Injured)
Espanyol Team News: Kumbulla suspension
Espanyol are dealing with several absentees as they travel to the Coliseum this weekend. Former Roma defender Marash Kumbulla is missing through suspension for this one.
As well as the suspended Kumbulla, Espanyol are also dealing with experienced injury issues such as Fernando Calero, Jose Gragera and Edu Exposito.
Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Joan Garcia; El Hilali, Sergi Gomez, Leandro Cabrera, Brian Olivan; Pol Lozano; Jofre Carreras, Smith, Kral, Javi Puado; Irvin Cardona
Unavailable: Kumbulla (Suspended), Fernando Calero (Injured), Jose Gragera (Injured), Edu Exposito (Injured)
Questionable:
Getafe vs Espanyol Prediction
As mentioned, Getafe have badly struggled for attacking threat throughout this season with the limited personnel of Jose Bordalas combining with a limited style of football in terms of attack. They face an Espanyol side that have managed 15 goals in 14 games but the visitors have scored one or no goals in ten of those 14 games. This is not expected to be a thriller for the neutral, regardless of who, or if, anyone manages to come out on top.
Getafe vs Espanyol Tip: Under 2.5 goals
