Granada vs Espanyol Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Mar 12, 2016 @ 01:32 am

Next Monday, 14th of March 2016, Espanyol will travel to Andalusia to measure forces with a relegation threatened Granada at Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes on the last match of Round 29 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

It was a mighty and hard working Espanyol the one that overcame Rayo Vallecano at Cornellà-El Prat last Monday night. Constantin Galca’s men put up a pragmatic performance against an opponent who enjoys controlling the ball possession throughout the match and ended up awarded with the three points. An excellent assist by Marco Asensio allowed Abraham to net in his first goal of the season, and the first one for Espanyol on minute 12’, but Los Pericos have only granted the three points in the last 15 minutes of the match, when Hérnan Pérez put up a true masterpiece for his team’s second goal.

Despite the positives, the match didn’t end well for Espanyol. The team’s captain, Victor Sánchez, was sent-off and he will miss next Monday’s match against Granada. Pape Diop, who was also booked after protesting the referee’s decision, will also miss Espanyol’s next outing. For the important match at Los Cármenes, Constantin Galca, will also not be able to rely on the services of Anaitz Arbilla, who remains sidelined due to injury.

As for Granada, the Andalusian team are currently on an extremely complicated situation at La Liga and need a win against Espanyol in order to try to escape the relegation zone. After two consecutive wins over Deportivo de La Coruña and Sporting de Gijón, Granada failed to secure their third win in a row on their visit to Benito Villamarin last time out. A ten-man Real Betis proved to be very strong for an inconsistent Granada, who nevertheless gave their best to secure the win.

A win in next Monday’s match against Espanyol is almost mandatory for the Nazaries, especially after Sporting Gijón’s defeat at Málaga last Friday night.

For next Monday’s important fixture, Granada’s new head coach, José Manuel López, will not be able to rely on the services of the Spanish goalkeeper Andrés Fernández and the talented Venezuelan forward Adalberto Peñaranda, who are both suspended.

Granada

Stats: W-2 L-3 D-0

Recent Form - LWWLL

Espanyol

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-0

Recent Form - WLWWL

Possible Line-ups

Granada (4-2-3-1) – J. Fernández - Miguel Lopes - Babin - Ricardo Costa - Biraghi - Rubén Pérez - Doucoure - Ibáñez - Rochina - Success - El-Arabi

Espanyol (4-2-3-1) - Pau López - López - González - O. Duarte - R. Duarte - Abraham - Diop - Pérez - Asensio - Moreno - Burgui

Injury List / Suspended Players

Granada - Andrés Fernández (sus) - Peñaranda (sus)

Espanyol - Pape Diop (sus) - Víctor Sánchez (sus) - Anaitz Arbilla (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions