Rayo Vallecano vs Real Betis

Third travel to face sixth in Sunday lunchtime’s kick-off which could prove decisive in the race for the European places come the end of the season, and it poses a worry for Manuel Pellegrini’s Real Betis at the worst possible time.

No team in Europe has a better home record than Rayo Vallecano this season, having taken 25 points from a possible 27 at Estadio de Vallecas. The home side will also be boosted by talisman and top scorer Radamel Falcao, who made his first start since November in the Copa del Rey in midweek and could be in contention, while first-choice goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski returns after overcoming Covid-19.

Real Betis have impressed on the whole this season, but haven’t sparkled since returning from the winter break. Last weekend saw a surprise 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo making it back-to-back defeats after ending 2021 falling to Athletic Club, and the optimism levels in the green and white half of Seville have taken a battering.

Rayo will be without key man Álvaro García for this one after he limped off against Alavés, which will dampen some of the excitement, but Rayo will still fancy their chances to take all three points, but will be confident that they can avoid defeat.

The return fixture was a hardfought 3-2 victory for Betis in Seville, but was one of Rayo’s best away performances of the season, requiring a Willian José penalty late on to seal the victory. With their support behind them, where Rayo are unbeaten this season, the home team are narrow favourites for a reason.

Sevilla v Getafe

While the league table may make this fixture look like a formality for Sevilla, it’s quite the opposite taking into account the recent form of Getafe, who are unbeaten in six and would be fifth based on results in the last six match-days alone.

Getafe haven’t conceded more than a single goal in any of their last nine LaLiga matches, with their last five matches all finishing with under 2.5 goals, while three of Sevilla’s last four league wins have ended 1-0. Sevilla’s top goalscorer, Rafa Mir, has only five goals in LaLiga this season, while Getafe hitman Enes Ünal has only scored two of his six goals this season on the road.

Sevilla will be without goalkeeper Bono, but replacement Marko Dmitrović is a more than capable deputy, having kept three clean sheets in five appearances this season, and was one of LaLiga’s best shotstoppers while with Eibar before joining Julen Lopetegui’s side in the summer.

Both teams are in the bottom three in LaLiga for both teams scoring in their fixtures, with 42% of Sevilla games and 32% of Getafe matches ending with goals for both teams. The reverse fixture this season also ended with an injury-time winner from Erik Lamela being the only goal of the game. Quique Sánchez Flores has made Getafe very hard to beat since his return to the club, only conceding 0.7 goals per game since his arrival, and while Sevilla will hope to take the win, it seems unlikely that they’ll be handing out a thrashing.

Alavés vs Athletic Club

A Basque derby on Sunday evening will prove to be a feisty affair, made all the entertaining by having José Luis Mendilibar on the touchline for his second game in charge of Alavés, this time up against his former team Athletic Club.

Alavés have the benefit of a full week of rest and could give debuts to Gonzalo Escalante and Jason Remeseiro who both arrived at the club this week to bring fresh impetus to the side going forwards. Both teams have scored in seven of Alavés’ last eight games, including four at home, but top scorer Joselu has been absent from training with a suspected case of Covid-19 and so all eyes will be on the debutant duo.

Athletic are also in their best goalscoring form of the campaign, averaging an impressive 1.67 xG per game over the last seven games, with youngster Oihan Sancet scoring a hat-trick against Osasuna and teenager Nico Williams netting twice against Atlético Mancha in midweek.

Another player to keep an eye on will be Álex Berenguer, whose performances are improving and he remains the LaLiga player with the highest xG without scoring yet this season, at 3.56, and he will hope to edge closer to the eight goals he recorded last season by opening his account against Alavés.

Mendilibar’s teams have only kept clean sheets in two of 14 previous meetings with Athletic coach Marcelino, while he has failed to beat Athletic in his last 11 consecutive attempts. The return of goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco may help to boost his hopes of doing so this time, but Athletic will still be the more optimistic team heading into this clash.

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Osasuna vs Cádiz

Neither of these two sides have won in their last six LaLiga games, with Osasuna’s winless streak stretching back to mid-October, and as such sit joint bottom in the form table for the competition.

Osasuna will be optimistic heading into this one, though. That run without a win isn’t as bad as first seems when draws against Real Madrid and Barcelona are factored in, and they’ve had superior xG than their opponents on four occasions. Even without Chimy Ávila, sent off against Athletic on Monday night, Ante Budimir and Kike García are a lethal combination in attack.

Cádiz, on the other hand, have the lowest xPts total in LaLiga over that period at 2.8, combining both the league’s highest xG against (12.4) and lowest xG for (3.7) to show their collapse. Without top scorer Choco Lozano due to injury, their top scorer available will be midfielder Álex Fernández who has three goals to his name this season.

That suggests that Cádiz will pose an easier challenge for Osasuna than their recent ties against the likes of Athletic Club, Getafe and Barcelona, particularly at El Sadar. Osasuna only have one win at home under their belts this season, but did pick up over 70% of their home wins last season in the second half of the campaign and will be looking to replicate that spark to kick on with a win over Cádiz.

Villarreal vs Atlético Madrid

This tie is definitely one where we can expect goals. Villarreal have scored five in each of their last two outings in LaLiga, with four goals coming from Gerard Moreno, while Atlético’s clean sheet against Rayo Vallecano last weekend was their first since November.

Antoine Griezmann is expected to miss out through injury while Luis Suárez will also serve a suspension, but Matheus Cunha and João Félix both scored against Rayo Majadahonda in midweek and will compete to start alongside Ángel Correa, who scored twice last weekend.

Atlético will also have some changes to their team, given the departure of Kieran Trippier to Newcastle United in midweek. That will likely mean that Marcos Llorente will drop into a back four, though Atleti have conceded 1.67 goals per game with Llorente playing in that position in LaLiga this season.

Villarreal had their own blow in midweek, as they were shocked by Sporting Gijón in the Copa del Rey, falling to a 2-1 defeat, but did rest many of their key attacking talents and will hope to have Moreno and Yeremi Pino fresh to start against Atlético. The bigger concern may come at the back, where Villarreal have conceded in four of their last five outings, despite two being cup ties against lower-level opposition, with another two being against LaLiga sides currently sat in the relegation zone.

Earlier this season, the two teams played out a thrilling 2-2 draw which will provide promise for the entertainment factor and for good value on over 2.5 goals in this encounter.

Espanyol vs Elche

The RCDE Stadium has become something of a fortress for Espanyol of late, with 19 points taken from a possible 21 in their last seven home games, while Elche have only picked up five points on the road all season.

Francisco has helped Elche to improve, and they would sit 14th if the league had started when he was appointed, but they remain without a win on the road under their new coach and that looks unlikely to change any time soon.

The biggest test that the visitors could face is that they will be missing Lucas Pérez, making them even more dependent upon Lucas Boyé in attack, being the only player to have scored more than two goals all season.

Espanyol were taken to penalties by Ponferradina in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, but do have the benefit of an extra 24 hours of rest compared to Elche, who had another challenging tie against Almería.

It was a strong side that Vicente Moreno put out against Ponferradina, but he will be buoyed by the team’s recent form with youngster Javi Puado finding his best form of the campaign to help them come back from behind in their final game of 2021 against Valencia. Puado and Raúl de Tomás have contributed five of their last six goals in LaLiga.

The result is that Espanyol look very good value to seal another victory, given their strength at home and Elche’s struggles while playing elsewhere, where they average two goals conceded per away game since Francisco’s arrival.

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