It's one of the biggest games of the Segunda Division season so far as two sides battling it out for promotion into La Liga will meet as Cartagena play hosts to Deportivo Alaves at Municipal Stadium Cartagonova.
Despite the international break putting things on the domestic front across Europe to a halt, in Spain’s second tier, first-placed Alaves will be aiming to get their biggest win of the season and establish themselves as the title favourites in the Segunda Division.
👟💥⚽️@alexbalboa22 #AltaLaFrente 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/KJXpX6nBJC— Deportivo Alavés (@Alaves) September 23, 2022
👟💥⚽️@alexbalboa22 #AltaLaFrente 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/KJXpX6nBJC
So far, the league leaders are unbeaten and have managed to score nine goals so far and win four of the six games.
Alaves are on a two-game winning run right now too with a victory over Lugo away from home and a 2-1 win against Huesca. Luis Rioja was sent off in the win against Lugo, meaning he will miss this game here.
What's more, the league leaders have managed to secure 14 shots on target across these games as they continue to be the most threatening side in the division.
The only points they have dropped so far this season have been to Ibiza and Las Palmas in 1-1 back-to-back draws earlier in the campaign.
Alaves have also beaten Mirandes and Leganes earlier in the season and with five goals let in across the six games so far, they also have one of the best defensive records in the league too.
At the same time, however, with the 1-0 win over Mirandes, the club do also have just one clean sheet to boast about in the Segunda Division so far, which will be alarming further down the line if those defensive issues are not fixed.
As for Cartagena, they are back in the win column after losing to Burgos two weeks ago, with the club now on a two-game winning run.
Luis Carrion's men managed to beate Albacete 2-1 and then registered an impressive 1-0 win away to Levante shortly after.
Cartagena have also scored nine goals so far this season and with seven goals scored too, they haven't had a draw on their record to this point in the league with them also winning four games.
The losses so far for Carrion's side have come against Burgos and Ponferradina where they ended up conceding five goals across the two losses, scoring two of their own. Another win did come against Real Zaragoza, however.
Forebet predicts a win for Alaves and for the game to see under 2.5 goals.