Girona vs Rayo Vallecano prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-02-25 20:00.
Girona’s title hopes have taken a huge blow in the last couple of rounds, with a total of seven goals conceded in a pair of defeats against Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao leaving them six points off the pace. Head coach Míchel appears to have conceded it’s an unassailable gap, instead declaring during the week that Girona are “going to fight for the Champions League”.
They started the round seven points ahead of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao and will look to maintain that gap at home, where they remain unbeaten across a span of eight league games (W6, D2). After already defeating Rayo Vallecano twice this season across two competitions, Girona may be quietly confident of extending their winning H2H run to three games. Girona will need their attack to fire to get back on track, as their defence has not kept a clean sheet in any of the last eight H2H meetings between the sides, a run of games that saw three wins apiece and two draws.
Girona’s current plight is nothing compared to the situation that Rayo find themselves in at present. Winless since defeating second-tier Huesca in an early January cup game (D2, L5), Rayo entered this round just four places and eight points above the drop zone. The visitors will know where they stand come Monday as this is the last game of the round, but picking up points now could save them nervously looking over their shoulders later down the line.
The visitors scored an equaliser in each of their last two away games at Atlético and Mallorca, but ultimately went on to lose both games 2-1. Unfortunately for Rayo, coming back from adversity is not often in their repertoire, a statement backed up by their poor haul of just two points when conceding the opening goal in league action this season (D2, L9).
Players to watch: Girona’s Artem Dovbyk memorably scored his first La Liga hat-trick in a six-minute spell against Sevilla, meaning two of his last three scoring appearances saw him net multiple goals. As for Rayo, Álvaro García found the net in each of their last two away games, meaning he has lost 2-1 in each of his last three scoring appearances, with the first in the sequence coming against Girona.
Hot stat: Rayo have avoided defeat in four of their last five La Liga away games played on a Monday (W3, D1, L1), while four also produced under 2.5 total goals.