Almeria vs Mallorca prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-12-16 13:00.
Very seldom have a top-flight side started a league season as poorly as AlmerĂa have anywhere in the world, as La Liga’s (LL) last-placed club continue to break all the wrong records. Their 2-1 loss to AtlĂ©tico Madrid in the last round made them just the third LL side to start a campaign without winning any of their first 16 matches (D4, L12), although these have all occurred in the last three seasons after Elche’s similarly terrible opening last campaign (D4, L12) and Levante’s faltering start in 2021/22 (D8, L8).
Both those sides unsurprisingly ended up getting relegated, and AlmerĂa will suffer the same if they continue to be the only club in Europe’s top-five league to remain winless this season. Manager Gaizka Garitano will be scratching his head working out how to change his team’s fortunes, and he may have a building block to work from since their last home match saw them keep their first clean sheet of the league season in a 0-0 draw with Real Betis.
Looking to pile on the hosts' misery, Mallorca alleviated the dangers of the relegation zone with a slender 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Sevilla in their last outing. Prior to that victory, Javier Aguirre’s men were on a ten-game winless streak in LL (D6, L4), which was their longest top-flight run without victory since December 2012.
That was Mallorca’s third successive home league match (W1, D2), and now the Pirates set sail having to contend with losing their last three LL games on their travels without scoring. That’s a bad omen to carry into the Power Horse Stadium, where Mallorca have won just once in their last 13 visits (D5, L7).
Players to watch: The home side will be hoping LĂ©o BaptistĂŁo can get them off to a fast start, since he’s netted the match opener in eight of his last 11 goalscoring outings. In reply, Mallorca might deploy AbdĂłn Prats in attack, given he’s registered two goals and an assist in his last two games against AlmerĂa.
Hot stat: Both teams have scored in only two of the last ten H2H matches.