The lunchtime kick-off in this Saturday’s instalment of La Liga pits the wits of mid-table Granada against the bottom club, Espanyol, when the two teams face-off at high noon at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes.
Although they still occupy a mid-table position of 11th place in La Liga, Granada have had to endure a miserable period which has seen the hosts on the losing side in 4 of their last 5 matches overall, and just 1 win to show for their efforts in recent times.
Having to play 3 of their last 5 matches away from home certainly hasn’t helped as Granada have fallen to defeats on the road at Eibar, 2nd placed Barcelona and 3rd placed Sevilla in what has been a punishing sequence of fixtures.
However, Granada now have a golden opportunity to set the record straight at home in this upcoming clash against bottom side Espanyol, and as the hosts have registered recent wins against Deportivo Alaves and Mallorca, they’ll still be reasonably confident that they can turn things around here.
Espanyol have pulled their socks up of late as the visitors make their way to Granada having suffered just 1 defeat out of their last 5 matches which was a 2-0 loss away from home at fellow strugglers, Leganes, in a 2-0 defeat.
A 2-1 victory away at Villarreal along with points picked up in draws with Real Betis, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao show that Espanyol are still up for the fight against possible relegation, but it should be noted that they’ve still only won 3 matches throughout this campaign to date.
Interestingly, all 3 of these wins have been achieved away from home with victories registered at 15th placed Eibar, 13th placed Levante and 8th placed Villarreal, but the visitors have also lost 4 of their last 5 matches away from home too.
With just 2 clean sheets on the road throughout the season so far, Espanyol could struggle to keep a clean sheet against Granada on Saturday, especially as Granada inflicted a heavy 3-0 defeat upon Espanyol away from home back in September at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium.
Granada have had their problems in recent weeks but these have been largely away from home and they should just about edge this clash against a struggling Espanyol outfit here.