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Andoni Iraola’s Rayo Vallecano begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting in the top-half of the table in La Liga as they now face a Deportivo Alaves that are in the midst of an awful run of form.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 26th October, 2024 - UK – 3:15pm / US ET – 10:15am / US PT – 7:15am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Rayo Vallecano vs Alaves may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
RAYO VALLECANO PREVIEW: THE INTENSITY OF RAYO
Following the departure of Andoni Iraola to AFC Bournemouth in the summer of 2023, Rayo Vallecano appointed Francisco and they badly struggled for much of the campaign before the appointment of 33-year-old Inigo Perez, formerly the assistant of Andoni Iraola, and he managed to re-implement their intense and attacking style of football.
The Madrid-based club have suffered just three defeats in their opening ten matches of this season and one of those three losses came in their most recent outing last weekend after the October international break. They were beaten 1-0 by Real Mallorca in the Balearic Islands thanks to a 76th minute winner from Kosovo international Vedat Muriqi.
ALAVES PREVIEW: ALAVES’ STUBBORNNESS
Following promotion back to La Liga in 2023, Deportivo Alaves enjoyed an impressive 2023/24 La Liga campaign as they eventually pushed into the top-half of the table under the management of Luis Garcia Plaza – despite the fact that the Alaves boss was rumoured to be on the verge of the sack a couple of times last season.
This season they had started the campaign quite well with just two defeats in their opening six matches but they now come into this one on the back of four successive losses either side of the October international break. Alaves’ most recent outing saw them beaten 3-2 by Real Valladolid at the Mendizzarozza last weekend.
RAYO VALLECANO TEAM NEWS: ALFONSO ESPINO INJURED
Rayo Vallecano have been reliant on left-backs with Pep Chavarria and Alfonso Espino. The former has recovered from injury with the latter unavailable with a broken foot.
As well as that key left-back issue, Rayo do have a few other injury issues. Attacking midfielder Diego Mendez is a key injury doubt for the clash with Alaves.
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Alex Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Balliu; Jorge de Frutos, Unai Lopez, Gerard Gumbau, Alvaro Garcia; Sergi Camello, Isi Palazon
UNAVAILABLE: Alfonso Espino (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Diego Mendez (Injured)
ALAVES TEAM NEWS: SUSPENSION ISSUES
The visitors have a few key absentees for this weekend with a couple of injury concerns and suspension issues as both Abdel Abqar and Kike Garcia are out suspended.
As well as Abqar and Kike, they also have a couple of injury concerns. Full-back Hugo Novoa is sidelined due to injury alongside centre-back Aleksandar Sedlar.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Antonio Sivera; Tenaglia, Sergio Mourino, Diarra, Manu Sanchez; Antonio Blanco, Ander Guevara; Carlos Vicente, Guridi, Conechny; Toni Martinez
UNAVAILABLE: Abqar (Suspended), Sedlar (Injured), Hugo Novoa (Injured), Kike (Suspended)
QUESTIONABLE:
RAYO VALLECANO VS ALAVES PREDICTION
Rayo Vallecano play with one of the more intense styles of football and that means it is difficult for anyone to play against them and especially to play against them at Vallecas. They face an Alaves side that have been surprisingly high-scoring, both going forward and at the back, in each of the last couple of seasons. Rayo are favourites with their home advantage but it could be quite a fun game for the neutral.
RAYO VALLECANO VS ALAVES TIP: RAYO TO WIN & OVER 2.5 GOALS