Almeria vs Espanyol prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-01-26 20:00.
As they try to continue keeping La Liga’s (LL) relegation zone at bay, AlmerĂa have been dealt a harsh blow by the scheduling, as they have to open Round 19 at home to Espanyol just four days after Monday night’s trip to Valencia. They’ll no doubt be extracting some much-needed confidence from their 2-2 draw at Valencia last round, which was in spite of them having LL’s worst away record coming into the clash.
After continuing their fight against the ongoing threat of relegation with two second-half equalisers at Valencia to make it three draws since the restart (L1), AlmerĂa return home with the ambition of frustrating Espanyol. The chance to leapfrog both Valencia and Espanyol with a victory – at least for two nights – should serve as inspiration, and their two wins from two LL games as home favourites this season (1-0 v Getafe and 3-2 v Girona) will be another source of confidence.
Espanyol will carry the advantage of an extra 48 hours rest as well as the confidence of stringing together back-to-back wins for the first time this LL season. They’re buried alongside AlmerĂa in a very congested bottom half where just five points separated 11th from 19th going into this round, but still appear one of the more likely sides to ascend from it after recently conquering both Getafe (2-1 away) and Betis (1-0 home).
Despite the unenviable habit of conceding in eight of their nine LL away trips this season, Espanyol have still managed to graft one of the league’s finest win/draw rates as travelling underdogs, losing only two of eight such games (W2, D4), with 1-1 draws at Mallorca, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid preceding their win at Getafe. They should therefore carry the belief they can move closer to the top half.
Players to watch: El Bilal TourĂ© set up AlmerĂa’s second equaliser last outing, adding to his haul of four goalscoring appearances from his last ten LL appearances. Joselu has played a major hand in some productive LL away trips recently, scoring away to Getafe (W 2-1) and Barcelona (D 1-1) in his last two LL away games.
Hot streak: Espanyol’s last five losses in all competitions have been by a single-goal margin.