Espanyol and Betis will close this Monday, October 30, the Spanish league number ten round in its 2017/2018 season. The game, which will be held at RCDE Stadium in Barcelona, starts scheduled for 18h (Brasília time).
The recent performance of Espanyol
The poor cousin of Catalonia will enter the field with physical disadvantage. He had to play two days later than the rival in his debut match in the King’s Cup of Spain. On Thursday, October 26, he was in the goalless draw with Tenerife. The return leg is set for November and Espanyol will need a home win to advance in the tournament.
The extra wear, however, is certainly not the biggest problem that coach Quique Flores needs to manage. The team makes an early season well below what could have been expected after the good season in the final stretch of the 2016/2017 Spanish Championship, when it came to fighting for a place in the Europa League, even though it has kept its hands shaking.
With ten points (two wins, four draws and three defeats), Espanyol were in 13th place at the start of the ninth round. It was closer to the relegation zone, opened by Las Palmas with six points, than the region of classification for European tournaments, closed by Villarreal with 16.
Second place in draws, the team was equal in its last two games for La Liga. The worst result was in the eighth round when, at home, did not leave the 0-0 against Leganés. On the following day, as a visitor, against Real Sociedad, he obtained an acceptable 1 to 1.
To face Betis, Flores will be able to count on all its main players. No bruising or suspension problems.
The current form of Betis
Betis made their first match in the King’s Cup on Tuesday, October 24. It left the classification for the fifth phase of the tournament very well directed when defeating Cadiz, by 2 to 1, in the stadium of the rival.
In the Spanish Championship, it makes a promising campaign, quite different from last year when the team was in the middle of the leaderboard and in some moments was even threatened by the approach of the teams that were in the relegation zone.
With 16 points (five wins, one draw and three losses), he closed his ninth round in seventh place, the first out of the European tournament qualifying zone. The score, however, is the same as Villareal, which takes advantage of the tiebreaker criteria.
This opens up to the Sevilla team the possibility of higher dreams of the season. Visitor performance, however, has kept it from approaching this goal. After two defeats in the first matches, Betis even reacted by scoring four points in the two following clashes as column two, however, it only appears as the thirteenth best in that match in the Spanish Championship.
The team has shown good offensive performance. With 19 goals scored in nine rounds, he even beats Real Madrid (18) in the same period. He was at the end of round nine as the fourth best attack of the tournament. The defense, however, has shown great weaknesses. It was leaked 17 times. It is the worst among the top eight.
Defender of this more daring style of seeking the victory, even if it presents a defensive insecurity, the technician Quique Setien has three medical problems to climb his equipment, exactly in the defense. They are in treatment of injuries Riza Durmisi (seven matches in Spanish Championship 2017/2018, without goal), Zouhair Feddal (seven games, two goals) and Firpo Junior (without performances).
History of the matches
Espanyol defeated Betis in the last two matches of the Spanish Championship. In Seville, made 1 to 0. In Barcelona, scored 2 to 1.
PREDICTION: Betis win @ 3.40
