Espanyol vs Getafe

RCDE Stadium is the venue as Espanyol and Getafe go head-to-head in a high-stakes La Liga showdown.

Following a heavily inconsistent first half of the season, Espanyol seem to have found the right balance, with last weekend’s 2-0 win at Celta Vigo helping them establish a healthy-looking six-point cushion on La Liga’s bottom three. Scintillating home form has been the backbone of Espanyol’s relentless effort to avoid an immediate top-flight relegation, as Manolo Gonzalez’s men boast an impressive nine-game unbeaten home league run (W3, D6), bookended by a 1-1 home draw against title-bidding Atletico Madrid last time out. As a result, ‘Los Periquitos’ are one game away from piecing together a ten-match undefeated home streak in La Liga for the first time since April 2010. However, back-to-back 1-0 H2H defeats to Getafe potentially paint a bleak picture for the home team.

On the other hand, despite a narrow win in this season’s reverse fixture on home turf, Getafe are without a win across their last seven league visits to Espanyol’s home venue (D2, L5), not to mention they head into proceedings on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Las Palmas. A first-half red card condemned ‘El Geta’ to an unlikely loss, considering it accounted for three of their five points dropped from winning positions this season. Despite that setback, Javier Bordalas’ men remain in contention for a coveted European finish and can draw heart from winning six of their last seven away league matches (L1), suggesting they could temporarily reduce the gap to eighth place to a point.