After the international football this weekend is again time for competitive football. In Spain, Leganes and Alaves kick off the thirteenth round of play. The home club craves a victory, but the visitors are in top form!
Leganes:
With only one defeat in the last five rounds, Leganes is doing fine, but because the last three league matches all ended in a tie, a jump in the rankings ended. With only ten points from twelve games, the Madrid players are still on the wrong side of the relegation streak. Also two weeks ago, the men of trainer Mauricio Pellegrino visited Girona with a goalless draw again not to profit.
With nine goals for and sixteen goals, Leganes still has enough work to do in the attack and in the defense. In their own Butarque Los Pepineros are usually a dangerous opponent. FC Barcelona, for example, was beaten 2-1 this season and Atletico Madrid held a 1-1 draw. In five home games, only Villarreal managed to escape with the full booty from the Butarque. This home balance gives confidence, though the blue-wits will probably have to make it Friday night without first goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar. The young Ukrainian Andriy Lunin will therefore probably stand between the poles.
Alaves:
Alaves is a lot better than Leganes. Despite a small budget, the Basques are no less than 23 points in second place and are therefore joining in the battle for the Spanish national title. However, the blue-and-white was neglected by the national coaches during this international period, as only Guillermo Maripan (Chile), John Guidetti (Sweden), Mubarak Wakaso (Ghana), Antonio Sivera and Martin (Spain Under 21) were waved off. That was, of course, good news for trainer Abelardo, who did not have to miss a lot of players in the past two weeks.
So Alaves does an excellent job, but thanks to her excellent performances this season is due to her home matches. El Glorioso, with three defeats in six away games, is quite vulnerable out of his own Menidzorroza. Also in the last away match, visiting Eibar (2-1), the blue whites returned empty-handed to the Mendizorroza. In addition, the visitors must miss two or three basic players on Friday evening with Rodrigo Ely, Tomas Pina and perhaps also Fernando Pacheco.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1.67
