Rayo Vallecano vs Alaves prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-10-25 14:15.
[p]Rayo Vallecano bid to return to winning ways against Alavés after a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Mallorca last time out ended their five-game unbeaten league streak (W2, D3). They’ll want to be careful here then, as they’ve lost back-to-back La Liga games three times already since the end of April, so they do have a tendency to lose matches in pairs. [/p]
[p]Rayo boss Iñigo PĂ©rez blamed himself for the Mallorca defeat, saying “I was not able to make them see certain individual nuances, it’s my fault”. Expect him to be up for the fight in a bid to put things right here, with Rayo looking to extend their unbeaten home league run to four straight games (W1, D2), though they’ll also be looking to tighten up at the back, having conceded exactly once in seven of their last eight such games![/p]
[p]That’s exactly what AlavĂ©s managed the last time these sides met, when the Basque side won 1-0, and another close encounter could be on the cards here with the H2H top-flight record between these sides perfectly split (W6, D2, L6). AlavĂ©s narrowly missed out in their last outing, suffering a 3-2 defeat to Real Valladolid, which led to Boss Luis GarcĂa stating his side “have to improve a lot in defence”. [/p]
[p]Sitting in 14th but just two points above the bottom three, AlavĂ©s will need sharp improvements to their away form too if they are to avoid a relegation battle, having lost five of their last seven away trips in the league (W1, D1). The prospects of building on that look slim though, as after starting their league season with just one loss from four outings, AlavĂ©s are now on a four-game losing La Liga streak – their longest such sequence of top-flight defeats since April 2022![/p]
[p]Players to watch: Rayo’s Isi PalazĂłn struck the last time these sides faced off here, with four of his last five league goals, including that one, arriving before half-time. AlavĂ©s’ Kike GarcĂa struck in stoppage time last time out, but each of his three goals this season have arrived in defeats for his side![/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only Real Madrid (1) have conceded fewer first-half goals than Rayo Vallecano (2) in La Liga this season![/p]
[p][i]Written by Luke Bridle[/i][/p]