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These are two of the teams that have massively overperformed in the last few seasons and sit firmly tucked inside the middle-of-the-table with both dreaming of a tilt at the top seven and potential European qualification.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 1st November, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 4:00pm / US PT – 1:00pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Alaves vs Real Mallorca may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
ALAVES PREVIEW: ENTERTAINING ALAVES
Deportivo Alaves gained promotion to the top-flight of Spanish football via the playoffs in 2023 and they enjoyed an impressive 2023/24 campaign in La Liga, even squeezing themselves into the top-half of the table by the end of the season. That finish came after several suggestions that manager Luis Garcia Plaza would be sacked mid-way through the season.
The Basque club have been more entertaining than is generally expected of a team from the Basque Country, keeping that Basque grit and determination and developing it with an impressively proactive style. However, they do come into this one on the back of five successive defeats in La Liga before a win over Compostela in the Copa del Rey in midweek.
REAL MALLORCA PREVIEW: MARVELLOUS MALLORCA
As a result of reaching the final of the Copa del Rey last season, Real Mallorca do not enter the competition until the second round this season which means they have had the week off but did play as recently as Monday when they held Athletic Club to a goalless draw at Son Moix after Athletic had a man sent off early in the first-half.
Mexican coach Javier Aguirre departed the club to become the Mexico national side with former Osasuna boss Jago Arrasate replacing him. The Balearic Islanders have enjoyed a very strong start to this season as they begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting tucked inside the top seven.
ALAVES TEAM NEWS: DEFENSIVE ISSUES
Under pressure Luis Garcia Plaza has a couple of defensive injury issues to deal with ahead of the visit of Real Mallorca to Mendizzarozza this weekend.
Slovakian centre-back Aleksandar Sedlar is sidelined with a thigh injury, whilst Hugo Novoa, formerly of RB Leipzig, is also missing due to a stomach issue.
PREDICTED XI (5-4-1): Antonio Sivera; Santiago Mourino, Tenaglia, Pica, Diarra, Manu Sanchez; Carlos Vicente, Jon Guridi, Ander Guevara, Carlos Martin; Toni Martinez
UNAVAILABLE: Sedlar (Injured), Hugo Novoa (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
REAL MALLORCA TEAM NEWS: SAMU COSTA SUSPENDED
Defensive midfielder Samu Costa, formerly of Valencia, has been a very impressive player for Mallorca this season but he is suspended for this one after his red card against Athletic.
As well as the absence of Samu Costa, Mallorca are also dealing with a couple of injury doubts as Ivan Cuellar and Takuma Asano are potentially missing.
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Greif; Pablo Maffeo, Valjent, Antonio Raillo, Johan Mojica; Ruben Navarro, Manu Morlanes, Omar Mascarell, Sergi Darder; Muriqi, Larin
UNAVAILABLE: Samu Costa (Suspended)
QUESTIONABLE: Ivan Cuellar (Injured), Asano (Injured)
ALAVES VS REAL MALLORCA PREDICTION
In their opening 11 matches of this campaign, Alaves have had 32 goals come in their games. They had started the season steadily and quite positively but five successive defeats mean they begin the weekend sitting just outside of the bottom three and the relegation places. They now face a Mallorca side that play with two big men up-front but had to adjust to a more defensive style due to being down to ten men against Athletic. Both teams scoring would appear a good bet.
ALAVES VS REAL MALLORCA TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE