Two teams towards the bottom of the La Liga table will lock horns at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on Friday night, as 16th-placed Granada welcome 15th-placed Alaves.
Granada will enter the contest off the back of a 7-0 win over Laguna in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, while Alaves also progressed in the cup with a 3-0 victory against Unami on the same night.
Match preview
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Granada were in impressive form against Laguna in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, with the La Liga outfit scoring seven unanswered goals to breeze into the second round of the competition.
Robert Moreno's side will now switch their attention back to La Liga, where they are currently 16th, having picked up just 12 points from their opening 14 matches of the 2021-22 campaign.
Granada are winless in their last three in the league, but they did manage to pick up a welcome point away at Athletic Bilbao last weekend and will view their next three games against Alaves, Cadiz and Mallorca as an opportunity to put some points on the board.
The Red and Whites have finished seventh and ninth in their last two La Liga campaigns, but the indications thus far are that they could struggle to break into the top half of the division this term.
Granada recorded a 2-1 victory over Alaves in the corresponding match between the two teams last season, though, and they have won four of their last five top-flight contests with the Basque side.
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Alaves, as mentioned, were also victorious in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, recording a 3-0 victory over Unami to advance to the second round of the competition.
El Glorioso, who have finished 16th in their last two La Liga campaigns, suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Celta Vigo in the league last weekend, which was their first loss since October 18.
Alaves have actually won three of their last six La Liga contests, losing just once in the process, but they are still 15th in the table, collecting 14 points from their opening 14 matches.
Javier Calleja's side are just two points ahead of 18th-placed Cadiz but only two points behind 12th-placed Villarreal, which is an indication of how quickly things could change in terms of their league position.
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Team News
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Granada will be without the services of both Angel Montoro and German Sanchez on Friday through suspension, with the pair picking up yellow cards against Athletic last time out.
Neyder Lozano, Domingos Duarte and Luis Milla are all still injured, while Isma Ruiz remains a doubt for the home side due to a knee problem.
Jorge Molina was on the scoresheet against Athletic and should retain his spot alongside Luis Suarez in attack, while Luis Abram is in line to replace Sanchez in the middle of the defence.
Monchu is also back from a suspension of his own and should line up in the middle of the park.
As for Alaves, Ximo Navarro is unavailable for selection due to a knee injury, while Ruben Duarte will miss out through suspension, having been booked against Celta last time out.
Javi Lopez is in line to replace Duarte at left-back, but the away side could otherwise be unchanged, with Joselu, Luis Rioja and Edgar Mendez all featuring in the forward areas.
Pere Pons should retain his spot, with the likes of Facundo Pellistri and John Guidetti set to start on the bench once again for the Basque side.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Quini, Abram, Torrente, Neva; Flores, Monchu, Gonalons, Soro; Molina, Suarez
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Aguirregabiria, Laguardia, Lejeune, Lopez; Moya, Loum; Mendez, Pons, Rioja; Joselu
We say: Granada 2-1 Alaves
This is a very difficult match to call, with both teams having their problems this season. Granada were heavily beaten by Real Madrid in their last home league game on November 21, but we are tipping Moreno's side to shade a close contest on Friday to pick up a valuable three points.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Granada win with a probability of 37.22%. A win for Alaves had a probability of 33.99% and a draw had a probability of 28.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Granada win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.69%) and 2-0 (7.07%). The likeliest Alaves win was 0-1 (11.57%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.34%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Granada in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Granada.
