Next Monday, 24th of November 2014, Granada and Almeria, two teams in need of points, will measure forces at Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes for round 12 of the Liga BBVA, on a match of the utmost importance for both teams since they are currently dangerously close from the relegation zone and a defeat would surely make them drop a few places in the league table.

The arrival of Joaquim Caparrós at Granada this Summer made what one may call an instant impact on the team and the Nazaries started the new season in good pace. Nevertheless, a home defeat against Caparrós’ previous team, Levante, marked the start of a complicated period for the Andalusian team. Granada then entered into a very negative streak of results with seven matches without a single win that only ended on a friendly match against Antequera, a team from the Spanish fourth tier, which has taken place this week.

On the last round of La Liga, Granada managed, nevertheless, to sustain Celta de Vigo’s attacking avalanche and left Los Balaídos with an important goalless draw that might give them some extra motivation for the matches to come.

For the upcoming Andalusian derby, Joaquim Caparrós will probably still be able to rely on the contribution of the Venezuelan forward Darwin Machis and of Sulayman Marreh, both currently sidelined due to injury.

As for Almeria, the recent weeks have also been a total disaster with the team that has failed to win any of their last five matches. With four defeats in a row, Almeria are now on a fairly tricky situation. Los Rojiblancos are currently on the 16th place of table with the same points of Levante and Elche, who are at the moment below the relegation line.

Two weeks ago, Almeria lost at home to the all-powerful Barcelona, on a match during which they weren’t by, any means, worse than their opponents and made a fairly good image of themselves.

For the important clash at Granada, Francisco Rodriguez will not be able to count on Thomas Partey, who is currently suspended, and on his team’s captain, Corona, currently sidelined due to injury.

It is definitely not easy to name any favourites for this particular match, given both teams’ currently reality. Although, by playing at home, one might consider Granada as slight favourites for next Monday’s Andalusian derby.

Granada

Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2

Recent Form - WDLDL

Almeria

Stats: W-0 L-4 D-1

Recent Form - LLLLD

Possible Line-ups

Granada (4-4-2) - Fernandez - Nyom - Babin - Murillo - Carlos - Sissoko - Rico - Iturra - Foulquier - El-Arabi - Cordoba

Almeria (4-2-3-1) - Ruben - Navarro - Velez - Trujillo - Dubarbier - Verza - Azeez - Zongo - Soriano - Teye - Bifouma

Prediction

Granada 2 Almeria 1