Rayo Vallecano vs Alaves Preview: Team News & Prediction
by Alex Lawes ·
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It isn’t necessarily a six-pointer but if we had a loser at Vallecas then they would begin to get the early nerves that this season could be a long and hard one for them.
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+
Rayo Vallecano preview: European commitments
Rayo Vallecano come into this one on the back of an entertaining but frustrating 2-2 draw against Hacken at Gamla Ullevi in their most recent outing last weekend in which Andrei Ratiu scored a 103rd minute penalty to equalise for Rayo.
With a shallow squad and an extremely intense style of football with Inigo Perez at the helm, Rayo are expected to struggle to deal with European and domestic commitments and they have managed three wins in nine games in La Liga thus far.
Alaves preview: Improved Alaves
After narrowly avoiding the drop last season, Deportivo Alaves have been much-improved in La Liga this time around, under the management of former Celta Vigo boss Eduardo Coudet.
The Basque outfit do begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting just about inside the top-half of the table. They most recently shared a goalless draw with Valencia to mean they have suffered just one defeat in their last four matches.
Rayo Vallecano team news: Defensive injuries
Rayo Vallecano have a couple of longer term defensive injury issues for this weekend as centre-back Abdul Mumin is sidelined alongside former Olympique de Marseille defender Luiz Felipe.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Augusto Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mendy, Pep Chavarria; Pablo Diaz, Oscar Valentin, Unai Lopez; Jorge de Frutos, Alemao, Fran Perez
Unavailable: Mumin (Injured), Luiz Felipe (Injured)
Questionable:
Alaves team news: Garces suspended
Alaves head to the capital city with no fresh injury concerns but experienced defender Facundo Garces remains unavailable as he is missing through suspension this weekend.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Antonio Sivera; Jonny, Tenaglia, Jon Pacheco, Youssef Enriquez; Antonio Blanco, Pablo Ibanez; Calebe, Lucas Boye, Rebbach; Toni Martinez
Unavailable: Garces (Suspended)
Questionable:
Rayo Vallecano vs Alaves prediction
Alaves head to the capital city seeking to try and play a more enterprising style of football under Eduardo Coudet, but they are managing to match that by making it a bit more effective, too. They now travel to Madrid to face a Rayo side that always try and get on the front foot and overwhelm their opposition but that is going to worsen with European commitments and siding with the visitors may well be a good value bet for this one at Vallecas.
Rayo Vallecano vs Alaves tip: Double chance – Alaves to win or draw
