Almeria v Espanyol Barcelona is a top match in La Liga 2. The home side are third, while the “Periquitos” arrive as league leaders. The Catalans have only won five rounds of matches and their immediate return to the top flight is looking more and more concrete.
Eight rounds of matches are still to be played, however, which is why promotion is not quite in the bag yet, with a ten-point lead over third place, which no longer entails a direct jump into La Liga. For the match at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos between Almeria and Espanyol Barcelona, betting on an away win (DNB) seems profitable.
Prediction & Live Odds for Almeria vs. Espanyol 19/04/2021
The Blanquiazules rightly occupy first place in the table. No team scores more goals in La Liga 2 and only the runners-up from Mallorca concede fewer goals. The team from Catalonia is therefore very well positioned in all parts of the team and the current series of eleven unbeaten games supports this assessment.
For the match between Almeria and Espanyol , the prediction includes an away win, with a draw being secured – 2 DNB. The hosts are just as much among the top teams in third place, but recently UD have been flagging.
They haven’t scored in two rounds and the loss of second-leading scorer and provider of assists Jose Corpas means the home side will be weakened going into the encounter with the league leaders. Another factor in favour of the prediction is the recent decline in home strength.
None of the last three home games was won, although it was against the basement team from Alcorcon, among others. Especially the second-best home attack was weak with only one goal in this review and without Corpas there are no signs of improvement in this context.
Almeria – Statistics & current form
The Andalusians were last represented in the Spanish top flight six years ago. After their relegation from La Liga, Almeria initially had a very bumpy ride. In their first years in the second division, they only managed to finish at the bottom of the table. But last year it became clear that UD was ready for promotion again.
In fourth place, they were already sniffing at a return to the top Iberian league. Now it looks even better: In third place, the Rojiblancos currently have another chance. The successful season in the Spanish Cup also confirms the assessment of a steadily improving squad from Almeria. The team reached the quarter-finals and the defeat against Sevilla was only a narrow 0:1.
Jose Corpas must pass
Recently, however, “La Unión” has lost ground: The defeat against Rayo Vallecano was followed by another loss at Saragossa on the last matchday. On top of that, the Almeriensistas now have to do without Jose Corpas. The Spaniard was sent off on the last matchday and is now condemned to watch.
This is a blow for the Indálicos, as the 29-year-old is the hosts’ second-leading scorer and also ranks second in terms of assists in Jose Gomes’ team. He also scored his side’s only goal in their first-leg clash with Espanyol.
Almeria’s likely line-up:
Makaridze – Balliu – Maras – Cuenca – Akieme – Petrovic – Costa – Lazo – Robertone – Rodriguez – Sadiq
Espanyol – Statistics & current form
Espanyol have not only won their last five matches, as mentioned above, but are now on a streak of eleven league games without defeat (7-4-0). Raul de Tomas has played a decisive role in this. The runner-up scorer in La Liga 2 from the 2017/18 season, then in the service of Rayo Vallecano, who finished top of the table.
His subsequent departure to Benfica was not crowned with success, however, which is why de Tomas has returned to Spain since last season and is now back in full swing at Espanyol. He has scored 20 goals in 32 league games so far! With this number of goals, the 26-year-old is once again in second place in the scoring charts.
Does de Tomas strike again?
And things are going particularly well for de Tomas at the moment: the attacker has scored a brace in two of the last three league games! In view of this, the odds on his next goal in the match between Almeria and Espanyol Barcelona are also interesting. Unibet offers them at 2.43. The bookmaker is also currently offering a lucrative Unibet new customer bonus!
The four-time cup winners also brought Nany Landry Dimata on loan from Anderlecht last February. In Brussels, a serious injury had him out of action for more than a year and after his return he did not find back to his old performance level, which is why the loan deal should give his career a new boost. However, his record of two goals after eleven appearances on the Mediterranean is currently still capable of improvement.
Lei with room for improvement
This also applies to Wu Lei. The 2018 top scorer in the Shanghai Port jersey in the Chinese Super League has never found his feet in Spain.
At the moment, Wu Lei again has only two goals on the season and his tally after three years at Barcelona and 76 games is extremely meagre with nine goals. The hopes placed in him at RCDE have thus not been fulfilled and there is little to suggest that this will change in the future.
Rather, his quality is obviously not sufficient for the Spanish upper and lower house. Coach Vincente Moreno is of the same opinion, as the Chinese player has only made short appearances from the bench for some time now.
Expected line-up of Espanyol Barcelona:
Lopez D. – Cabrera – Pedrosa – Lopez D. – Vila – Embarba – Bare – Darder – Puado – De Tomas – Dimata