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It is a fascinating storyline at Estadio Gran Canaria on the opening match day of the campaign as Garcia Pimienta takes charge of his first game as the new Sevilla boss up against his former club, Las Palmas, this weekend.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 16th August, 2024 - UK – 8:30pm / US ET – 3:30pm / US PT – 12:30pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Las Palmas vs Sevilla may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
LAS PALMAS PREVIEW: THE NEW LAS PALMAS
Replacing Garcia Pimienta at Las Palmas is former Barcelona C and Barcelona B player Ivan Carrion. The 45-year-old La Masia graduate has coached Espanyol’s women side, as well as Cordoba, Melilla, Numancia, Cartagena and then, most recently, Real Oviedo last season where they lost the playoff final to Espanyol after taking a first-leg lead to Barcelona.
The Canary Islanders have been one of the busiest sides in the transfer window and did manage to bring in Viti Rozada on a free transfer from Oviedo. Some notable names familiar to Premier League watchers will include the likes of Scott McKenna and Oli McBurnie, as well as former Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj.
SEVILLA PREVIEW: IMMEDIATE PRESSURE FOR GARCIA PIMIENTA
Januzaj joins on loan from Sevilla – a club in crisis. They have been involved in relegation battles until the early spring in each of the last two seasons before eventually edging themselves away from the bottom three and the relegation places and a honeymoon period for Garcia Pimienta may not last very long as they seek major improvement.
In the summer transfer window, the Andalusians have been relatively busy but focusing on cheaper deals, whether that be loans for the likes of Albert Sambi Lokonga and Saul Niguez from Arsenal and Atletico Madrid respectively or free agents, such as Nigerian international striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
LAS PALMAS TEAM NEWS: LEFT-SIDED ISSUES
There are a couple of things for Ivan Carrion to get stuck into on the opening day of the season and they are both on the left-hand side with former Ajax man Daley Sinkgraven still unavailable, as well as Januzaj.
For the vast majority of Garcia Pimienta’s time in charge of Las Palmas, they played with a 4-5-1 that adapted into a 4-3-3 with Ivan Carrion actually preferring more of a 4-2-3-1.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Cillessen; Viti, Alex Suarez, McKenna, Alex Munoz; Javi Munoz, Kirian Rodriguez; Park, Campana, Jaime Mata; Marc Cardona
UNAVAILABLE: Sinkgraven (Injured), Januzaj (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
SEVILLA TEAM NEWS: ISSUES APLENTY ALREADY
With what is already a small squad, Garcia Pimienta is already dealing with several injury issues at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan – and particularly defensively with Marcao, Kike Salas and Marcos Acuna all unavailable.
As well as those three, though, new signing Lokonga, who spent last season out on loan at Luton Town, is also unavailable alongside former Liverpool man Suso.
PREDICTED XI (5-4-1): Nyland; Jesus Navas, Jose Angel Carmona, Gudelj, Nianzou, Pedrosa; Ocampos, Joan Jordan, Saul, Lukebakio; Iheanacho
UNAVAILABLE: Marcao (Injured), Kike Salas (Injured), Acuna (Injured), Suso (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Lokonga (Injured)
LAS PALMAS VS SEVILLA PREDICTION
It is a really tough test for Garcia Pimienta in his first game in charge of Sevilla and the footballing gods have produced a fate that pits him against the club where he had so much success. Las Palmas arguably have more depth to their squad this time around, though, and will be looking to continue with a similar style of football, whilst Sevilla need fairly intense surgery to re-establish themselves where they should be as one of the best and biggest sides in Spain. This could be a fairly grim start to life as Sevilla boss for Garcia Pimienta in Gran Canaria.
LAS PALMAS VS SEVILLA TIP: LAS PALMAS TO WIN & UNDER 3.5 GOALS