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We could well have quite an intense encounter in Catalonia this week between two of the most entertaining sides in La Liga as a weaker but still strong Girona side welcome a fast paced Rayo Vallecano side.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Wednesday 25th September, 2024 - UK – 6:00pm / US ET – 1:00pm / US PT – 10:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Girona vs Rayo Vallecano may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
GIRONA PREVIEW: GIRONA NEED THE GENIUS OF MICHEL
For a second successive summer, City Football Group owned Girona have had to sell a few essential first-teamers such as Aleix Garcia, Savio and Artem Dovbyk. It was always going to be a tougher and more congested season, too, after qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever in just their fifth top-flight season ever last season.
The Catalans have put in some really impressive performances this season but they come into this one on the back of a 2-0 defeat to previously winless Valencia at Mestalla at the weekend, following on from a late defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last week and annihilation at the hands of Barcelona in a Catalan derby before that.
RAYO VALLECANO PREVIEW: RAYO’S RAPID FOOTBALL
With Andoni Iraola’s former assistant coach Inigo Perez now at the helm, Rayo Vallecano have been much-improved this season and look back to being closer to their former selves with a lot more intensity and aggression to their general play on the ball, but particularly in the way that they press.
In their most recent outing, they took the lead against an impressive looking Atletico Madrid side at Vallecas at the weekend before Conor Gallagher’s equaliser in the second-half. Rayo have started the season with two victories, two draws and two defeats in their opening six matches.
GIRONA TEAM NEWS: COUPLE OF INJURIES
Girona are dealing with a couple of injuries for this week with Ricard Artero remaining sidelined but he is now joined by attacker Portu, who has a muscle injury.
Girona’s squad is quite small for a side that are competing domestically and on the continent so another midweek game is probably not what they need or want.
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Paolo Gazzaniga; Alejandro Frances, David Lopez, Blind, Miguel Gutierrez; Yaser Asprilla, Yangel Herrera, Oriol Romeu, Danjuma; Miovski, Abel Ruiz
UNAVAILABLE: Ricard Artero (Injured), Portu (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Jastin Garcia (Injured)
RAYO VALLECANO TEAM NEWS: ISI AND JORGE DE FRUTOS
With another goal at the weekend against Atletico, Isi Palazon forms part of a thrilling front four for Rayo Vallecano alongside former Levante winger Jorge de Frutos.
Their intense style of football suits left-back Alfonso Espino extremely well, too, but he remains sidelined through injury alongside Diego Mendez for this week.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Alex Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Pep Chavarria; Ciss, Unai Lopez; Jorge de Frutos, Isi Palazon, Adrian Embarba; Nteka
UNAVAILABLE: Alfonso Espino (Injured), Diego Mendez (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
GIRONA VS RAYO VALLECANO PREDICTION
Girona rested quite a few players at the weekend and were unfortunate in defeat to PSG so the last week does appear quite poor on paper but there is reason to believe that it won’t be a permanent thing. Rayo Vallecano are always entertaining to watch, albeit not necessarily always high-scoring. Both teams scoring does still seem a good bet but, with home advantage, it does remain likely that Girona are favourites for this one.
GIRONA VS RAYO VALLECANO TIP: GIRONA TO WIN & BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE