The exceptional season of Rayo Vallecano in Spanish football looks set to continue as the Madrid outfit look to make it into semi-finals of the Copa del Rey to add onto their excellent displays in La Liga this season just as RCD Mallorca look to salvage something from a torrid campaign.
Real Mallorca have been in and out of the drop zone for much of this La Liga season and the club have only recently managed to distance themselves by two points of the bottom three.
📝📷⚡️ Penúltimo entrenamiento del primer equipo antes del partido de Copa ante el @RCD_Mallorca.Mañana sesión vespertina en la previa.#CopaDelRey #VamosRayo https://t.co/y13bwtWI0r pic.twitter.com/GCO5SOCP3d— Rayo Vallecano (@RayoVallecano) January 31, 2022
📝📷⚡️ Penúltimo entrenamiento del primer equipo antes del partido de Copa ante el @RCD_Mallorca.Mañana sesión vespertina en la previa.#CopaDelRey #VamosRayo https://t.co/y13bwtWI0r pic.twitter.com/GCO5SOCP3d
They also have a game in hand over Cadiz and Deportivo Alaves, meaning a win in their next La Liga game could rocket them up a spot or two.
It has, otherwise, been a torrid year in the Spanish top flight for them as they lost 3-0 to Villarreal last time out and also even saw defeat come against Levante just three weeks ago, which was perhaps their worst display and result of the year.
You have to go back to early December to witness their last win in La Liga, as the club defeated champions Atletico Madrid with goals from Franco Russo and a stoppage time winner from Takefusa Kubo.
Mallorca have since gone on a very commendable streak in the Copa del Rey which now sees them challenge for the semi-finals.
A 2-0 win over Gimnastica Segovianna came in round one, before the club destroyed Llanera 6-0, just as Eibar fell to a 2-1 defeat at their hands in the round of 32. Mallorca soon beat Espanyol 2-1 in the round of 16 to set up this clash with Vallecano, who have been having issues of their own in 2022.
The club's recent three-game winless streak has thrown them into eighth in the table and with them now only winning in the Copa del Rey since the turn of 2022, this game has now become of great importance for the club.
In reality, Rayo Vallecano can still hang their heads high with their eighth position right now, considering they are only just back in La Liga this campaign.
It was impressive to end up in as high as fourth for some time, but this always did seem a bit too far fetched for them and and their now nine wins and eight losses in La Liga makes for more realistic reading.
Goals have also significantly dried up for the club and under 2.5 goals has now become a trend of theirs as the likes of Radamel Falcao continue to struggle to hit the back of the net. Forebet predicts the same here and a win for Vallecano.