Real Oviedo welcome SD Eibar to Estadio Municipal Carlos Tartiere on Saturday, with both sides aiming to enhance their chances of returning to La Liga.
Oviedo finished sixth in the final standings, seven points behind third-placed Eibar, who finished just one point outside the automatic promotion spots.
In the preview, Forebet covers all the key stats and trends ahead of the semi-final first leg. Read on to find out what our predictive analytics model forecasts.
Funnily enough, Real Oviedo suffered a dramatic 4-3 defeat to Eibar on the final day of the regular season, with both sides racking up 20+ shots in that game.
That result means that Oviedo head into the play-offs on a run of four losses in seven matches, although they have won three of their previous five.
Oviedo have been especially strong at Estadio Municipal Carlos Tartiere this season, losing just two of their 21 home league games while keeping nine clean sheets.
Having won 12 of their last 18 home matches in the league, Real Oviedo will be confident of registering a first-leg advantage on Saturday.
Like Oviedo, Eibar have experienced an inconsistent end of the season, recording eight wins, one draw and six losses in their last 15 encounters.
That said, they have only lost one of their previous five matches, securing clean-sheet victories over Amorebieta and Cartagena before crushing Oviedo.
Eibar have struggled for consistency on the road, however, winning just one of their last six away league outings, with two victories coming in their previous nine.
It is also worth noting that Eibar have drawn the first half of their last five away league games and are unbeaten at half time in their previous 21 Segunda Division clashes.
Head-to-head: Thanks to last week’s 4-3 victory, Eibar have won five of their last eight meetings with Oviedo, suffering a solitary defeat in that sequence.
Given that seven of their previous 11 meetings produced under 2.5 goals, the first leg will likely be a low-scoring affair as both teams bid to avoid defeat.
Team news: Veteran striker Borja Baston has scored 10 goals for Real Oviedo this season, with Santiago Colombatto contributing 10 assists.
Eibar’s Jon Bautista has racked up 17 goals, while Ager Aketxe has bagged 14 goals and six assists. On top of that, Stoichkov has notched 12 goals and seven assists.
Although Eibar have enjoyed plenty of success against Real Oviedo in recent seasons, Saturday’s showdown will likely be a tense and cagey affair.
Forebet predicts that Real Oviedo and SD Eibar will produce a low-scoring draw, with both sides expected to net under 1.5 goals.