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| Human after all? After drawing two blanks Falcao will be looking to get among the goals again |
Deportivo v Levante
(12:00)
Two contrasting sides-
Depor have been loose and naive and have conceded more goals than any
other side in the division; Levante are gritty and have the joint
fewest goals scored in the top half. Depor have two wins and a draw
from five games at the Riazor, Levante have a solitary win on the
road.
Depor welcome Aguilar,
Ayoze and Marchena back, but Pizzi is suspended following his red
card in the 5-3 reverse at Zaragoza, a big loss for them. This
probably means Javier Camunas will start. Levante's only absentee of
note is Diop, Michel should start.
Depor only have 4
points from the last 15, and have struggled to win even the games
where they've been on top, but Levante have only scored two goals on
the road. Martins spurned a golden opportunity against Real Madrid
last week, but his overall form in front of goal could tip this in
the visitors favour.
Celta Vigo v
Mallorca (16:00)
Celta go into this on a
poor run of form, but that has to be mitigated by the fact that
they've recently faced both Real & Barcelona. They were also in
complete control at 2-0 against Rayo Vallecano last weekend until
Gustavo Cabral got sent off. He'll be replaced in defence by Jonathan
Vila.
Mallorca, however, are
sinking like a stone having lost 6 on the bounce to render their
bright start to the season a distant memory. Certainly that's the
case for forward Tomer Hemed who was hooked early againt Barcelona
last week- though that was their best recent performance by a long
stretch.
The visitors are
missing several first team players, most notably Giovani Dos Santos
(who admittedly has flattered to deceive) and Joao Victor, and with
such a short squad this leaves them rather bare. Celta, results
aside, have been playing some good, positive football. There's a high
level of understanding between their front four, and Aspas struck two
against Rayo. A more than decent defence is well screened by Oubina
and Alex Lopez. In short, they have a lot more about them than
Mallorca and should be good enough to see them off.
Getafe v Valladolid
(17:50)
Getafe are dropping
away after straight defeats to Atleti and Real Betis but have shown
themselves to be a good side this term. Their three-quarter line of
Pedro Leon, Abdel Barrada and Diego Castro have been excellent. In
front of them, Álvaro Vazquez has been anything but, registering a
solitary goal to date and his place as a starter is in doubt.
Valladolid have been
one of the stories of the season. They've taken their atrractive
possession-based approach up a level, and have outperformed Celta &
Depor who finished above them in the segunda last season.
Abraham is still out in
defence for the hosts, whereas Marc Valiente is less of a loss for
the visitors. Home or away, the philosophy stays the same for
Miroslav Djukic's side. They claimed a draw via the penalty spot at
Valencia last week but are up against and obdurate bunch in Getafe. A
difficult game to call.
Granada v Atletico
Madrid (19:45)
Suddenly, Granada are
starting to show signs of life. They felt they were in their defeat
here to Bilbao a fortnight ago but set that right in claiming a most
unexpeted win at high-flying Betis last weekend. Left back Guilherme
Siqueira should return, and with Dani Benitez integrated back into
their starting XI after his lengthy ban, they can count on a vital
component of the side that avoided relegation last term.
But this is a big ask
for them. Atletico got back to winning ways last week against Getafe
an Silvio is the only absentee here, and would probably not have
started anyway. Falcao hasn't scored in his last two, form which he
took into the midweek friendly against Brazil in New Jersey. He
played the full 90 minutes there, as did Juanfran in Spain's junket
in Panama.
Given the importance of
both of those players, they'll be hoping to travel doesn't exact a
hefty toll. At least others have been easing the goal buden on the
Colombian. Adrian scored his first of the season last week, and Raúl
García has chipped in with 3 despite being in out of the side.
All the signs point to
an away win, and that's fully what I expect here.
Sevilla v Real Betis
(21:30)
The Seville derby is
one of those great La Liga occasions and Betis' strong start adds
further spice to the encounter. Neither side enjoyed the last
matchday; Sevilla went down in Bilbao while Betis were stunned at
home by struggling Granada.
Benat has been a huge
part of the Betis success story, but Pepe Mel would be happier had he
not played the whole 90 minutes in 30c heat in Spain's win in Panama.
He was the difference between the sides last season when Betis
triumphed 2-1 on this ground.
Damian Perquis missed
this through injury from the visitors but Mario fit again to take his
place in defence that's not such an issue. Piotr Trochowski, out long
term is Sevilla's only absentee as Diego Perotti has been named in
the squad.
That old maxim about
form going out the window in derbies is a lazy cliche, but this is
certainly fiendishly tough to call. On the one hand, one can point to
how well Betis have down this term. But Sevilla are only 4 points
behind their neighbours, and in that run of three defeats in six was
the game where Barcelona hauled themselves back from 2-0 down to
triumph. Álvaro Negredo's having an excellent season, with 8 goals
in 12. I have a slight fancy for Sevilla, but I'd more inclined to
look at the market for red cards in this one. Gary Medel's a serial
offender in this regard, with 1 to his name already this season (4
yellows in total).
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