Next Monday, 12th of January 2015, Rayo Vallecano will entertain a somewhat rejuvenated Cordoba at Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas for round 18 of the Spanish Liga BBVA, on a match of paramount importance for the visitors who keep struggling down at the league table against the ghost of relegation and need a win in order to close the point gap to their closest contenders.

The arrival of Miroslav Djukic to the helm of Los Califas back in October was a clear turning point for the La Liga newcomers. Since his arrival, Cordoba have only been defeated four times in twelve matches and the team’s game has improved drastically.

Last weekend, Cordoba entertained Granada at Nuevo Arcángel and clinched a solid 2-0 win thanks to goals from the Algerian international Nabil Ghilas and from the Romanian striker Florin Andone. Los Califas were able to quickly bounce back after being smashed 5-0 at Camp Nou for their last league match before the festive period and, at the same time, switched positions with Granada at the bottom of the table. Cordoba are currently on the 18th place of the table behind the relegation line and because of that, a win at Vallecas next Monday is almost mandatory.

For that particular clash, the Serbian former international, Miroslav Djukic, is still not certain if he will be able to rely in the services of Nabil Ghilas, who will play for Algeria at the African Cup of Nations later this month, and of Iago Bouzon, who is still recovering from a minor injury.

As for Rayo, the Madrid-based team, they keep showing severe signs of inconsistency so far this season and they currently occupy the 11th place of La Liga’s table with the same points of Espanyol and Celta de Vigo. Paco Jemez’s boys, nevertheless, returned to wins last weekend after a somewhat complicated period with four defeats from five matches. Rayo overcame their neighbours and rivals of Getafe by 2-1 thanks to goals from Jozabed and Baena.

For the upcoming home match against Cordoba, Paco Jemez will not be able to rely on Insua, who is currently suspended, and will probably also not be able to count on the services of Cobeno and Castro, who are currently still sidelined due to injury.

The home side, Rayo, are favourites to win the clash, although, if Cordoba manage to replicate their performance from San Mames from earlier last month, they might be able to leave Vallecas with something more appealing than a defeat.

Rayo Vallecano

Stats: W-1 L-3 D-1

Recent Form - WLDLL

Cordoba

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - WLDDW

Possible Line-ups

Rayo Vallecano (3-1-4-2) - Toño - Tito - Zé Castro - Abdoulaye Ba - Sanchez - Baena - Trashorras - Kakuta - Licá - Bueno - Leo Baptistão

Cordoba (4-4-1-1) - J. Carlos - Pantic - Campabadal - López - Crespo - Deivid - Luso - Fidel - Cartabia - Garcia - Ghilas

Prediction

Rayo Vallecano 1 Cordoba 1