Two Under Pressure Teams Meet in La Liga
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The first weekend of fixtures in 2018 comes to an end in La Liga with a match on Monday night between Malaga and Espanyol at Estadio La Rosaleda.
This is a match between two teams in the bottom half of the table and both the players and managers are under pressure to produce a result. It would not be a surprise to see the future of either manager questioned come the end of this match.
Malaga start the match in deeper trouble, sitting 19th in the league and 4 points adrift of safety. Espanyol are 15th and while they are 9 points clear of Malaga they are only 5 points away from the final relegation place.
Malaga have won only one of their last five La Liga games and that victory came away from home at Real Sociedad. This was just their third win of the season and trends show Malaga have won just three of their last twenty La Liga games.
However, at home in La Liga, Malaga are undefeated in three of their last four matches, including wins over Celta Vigo, Deportivo La Coruna and a 0-0 draw with Levante.
The main problem for Malaga this season has been scoring goals and only Leganes have scored fewer goals in the league ahead of this game. Trends show Malaga have failed to score a single goal in twelve of their last eighteen La Liga matches.
Espanyol make the trip to the Costa del Sol having won one of their last five matches in all competitions. That win was a good 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at home but this victory was soon forgotten as Espanyol lost 2-1 at home to Levante in the Copa Del Rey in mid-week.
Espanyol have picked up some good wins at home this season but their away form has been poor and trends show they have won only one of their last ten away games in all competitions. That victory came at the end of last season and Espanyol are yet to win an away league this season.
Team News and Malaga are without the injured Juan Carlos Perez and suspended Adrian Gonzalez, who is serving the second game of a two-match ban. However, Roberto Rosales returns from suspension and will start at right-back. Diego Rolan is a doubt with an Achilles injury.
Espanyol can welcome back Oscar Duarte and he should take his place in the centre of defence for this game. Victor Sanchez has returned from suspension and could go into the team at right-back, with Javi Lopez missing out.
The problem for Espanyol has been winning games away from home this season and they will find it tough against a team battling for survival at the bottom of the table. Goals could be at a premium in this match and the draw with under 2.5 goals is a possibility.
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