MADRID, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Espanyol, who have gone three games undefeated, visit El Sadar this Thursday (8:00 p.m.) with the aim of getting something positive out of the doubts and irregularity of Osasuna in recent weeks, while Almería and Girona, direct rivals for salvation, They will face their bad dynamics and will seek to give themselves a break, in matches corresponding to the tenth day of LaLiga Santander.
The rojillo team has lost steam in recent days, tarnishing the great start to the season that Jagoba Arrasate’s men were taking, who came to be in the Champions League position. However, there are already four games without a win, with defeats against Getafe (0-2), Valencia (1-2) and Villarreal (2-0) -the latter being the most recent-, which leave the valuable draw (1 -1) at the Santiago Bernabeu.
This poor dynamic in recent weeks now places them ninth in the table, with 13 points, 6 above relegation and 5 behind Europe. Thus, Osasuna must react and recover the strengths that it has already shown this season. A good step to achieve this would be to return El Sadar to that condition of insurmountable for the visitors, after two consecutive defeats.
“We have been below our level these last two games”, confessed Arrasate in the previous one, who urged to “focus” on what has worked. “I refuse to get frustrated on matchday nine, the team has shown signs that it can do well and we have to recover that,” insisted the coach, who will have Kike Saverio confirmed out, due to injury, and Rubén Peña, who He is still sanctioned, although Unai García returns.
Opposite will be a Espanyol immersed in a great moment of mood and results. The ‘perico’ team links three duels without losing, after drawing against Valencia (2-2) and Cádiz (2-2), and beating Valladolid (1-0) on the most recent day. The author of the goal was Joselu, who is one of the most important reasons for the improvement of the Catalans, with seven goals at the start of the course, the same as Borja Iglesias and two less than Robert Lewandowski.
After that first win at the RCDE Stadium, Espanyol moved away from relegation, now two units behind, occupying fourteenth place with nine points. The victory left behind some ghosts of the Cornellà team, which faces its ‘mini-championship’ with more enthusiasm against direct rivals such as Elche and Mallorca.
“I like the team’s rebelliousness in the face of adversity. We have shown a positive personality,” stressed coach Diego Martínez, who will have Martin Braithwaite available, but will not be able to count on Adrià Pedrosa and Rubén Sánchez.
Earlier, at 7:00 p.m., Almería received Girona with more shadows than lights and without lifting their heads due to the results of the last days. The 3-1 loss against Betis last Sunday made the vital victory against Rayo, the only one of the last five games, become a mirage.
Very weighed down by the lack of offensive capacity, Rubi’s men will also have to take care of their defensive plot to get more out of their model, since it is one of the three teams that has not yet kept a clean sheet since the beginning of the course -along with Elche and Girona-. However, the Power Horse Stadium will be an asset in their favour, as they have collected six of their seven home points.
Girona, sixteenth and one point above Almería -which is third from last-, is in no better situation than its rival, whom it visits for the first time in the First Division. The Catalan team has gone four days without a win and reaches the duel after drawing (1-1) against Cádiz, a point that slows down, for the moment, their urgencies in the table. He has only added one of his eight points as a visitor, and he did it ‘in extremis’ against Mallorca.
Michel, who could modify the system in search of new solutions to get out of his losing streak, will have the confirmed casualties of Kebé, Reinier Jesús and Borja García, with Christian Stuani, a sure scorer and who has participated in the last two games after overcome your heart problems.
UD Almeria – Girona FC. Cuadra Fernández (Balearic C.) 19.00.
CA Osasuna – RCD Espanyol. Melero López (C. Andaluz) 20.00.
FC Barcelona – Villarreal CF. From Cerro Grande (C. Madrid) 21.00.
