Espanyol vs Girona prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-01-06 20:00.
Espanyol kept the relegation zone at bay for another week with a second consecutive Derbi BarcelonĂ draw (1-1) which, despite stretching their La Liga (LL) winless drought to six games (D4, L2), must be an enormous confidence boost after the off-field drama surrounding opponent Robert Lewandowski that almost saw them boycott the match in frustration. A “proud” manager, Diego MartĂnez, praised the “cool heads” and defiance in his side that has now seen them salvage six draws from their 12 opening goals conceded this LL season.
They can now move on and focus on hosting one of the three newly promoted clubs, all three of whom began the round four points ahead of Espanyol (17pts). With that in mind, MartĂnez should be reminding his players of their sole home win of the LL season, a 1-0 result against one of that trio of returnees, Real Valladolid.
Ironically, Espanyol were promoted from the Segunda DivisiĂłn in 2020/21 despite losing to Girona twice that season, and have in fact lost all three H2Hs at home since 2017/18. Girona are in good form at the moment too, and are currently enjoying one of their longest undefeated streaks in the top-flight in the half a decade since (W2, D3), and with all but one of those five results coming against clubs ranked higher than them, a trip to lowly Espanyol should give them confidence.
Girona boss MĂchel said his side produced both “the best and the worst” in their 2-2 draw at home to Vallecano, which drew attention again to one of Girona’s worst habits, conceding the opening goal. They have done so on almost more occasions (11) than any other club this LL season, and whilst their record when doing so (W1, D5, L5) is admirable, one can’t help but wonder where they could be if they could improve their -4 goal difference inside the first 15 minutes.
Players to watch: Joselu’s last six competitive goals for Espanyol have all been scored after half-time and in wins or draws (W2, D3), whilst Samu Saiz’s last three were all in the 75th minute or later during drawn contests.
Hot stat: Espanyol have won just one of their last seven LL games when starting as pre-match favourites (D3, L3).