Alavés wants to confirm its good start against an Espanyol on the rise
MADRID, 13 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Villarreal CF will defend their unbeaten record this Saturday at the Estadi Son Moix, where they will face an RCD Mallorca side that is lively like Deportivo Alavés and RCD Espanyol, who will face each other in Barcelona, while Sevilla FC and Getafe CF will meet in search of their first win, in matches corresponding to the fifth round of LaLiga EA Sports 2024-2025.
After the first four rounds of the domestic championship, Villarreal is one of the four teams along with FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid that are still unbeaten and will try to maintain this streak in the opening matchday on Saturday (2:00 p.m.) against a Mallorca that went into the break with a smile on its face.
The vermilion team opened its winning streak by beating CD Leganés 0-1 at Butarque and gave air to the new project headed by Jagoba Arrasate, which was having a hard time getting off the ground and will now try not to give up any more points in a stronghold that it wants to turn into a fortress so as not to suffer any difficulties in its goal of staying up.
The Castellón team, which is facing its second consecutive away game, was one of the five teams that won last year at Son Moix, by 0-1 and now with Marcelino García Toral in charge. The coach continues to seek solidity in the ‘Yellow Submarine’ that, after drawing at Mestalla (1-1), has accumulated a streak of eight games without losing in the league between the end of last year and the beginning of this one, although only in one of them was he able to keep a clean sheet, the biggest headache for the Asturian.
It will be a clash between two teams that have started with different sensations in attack. Mallorca is struggling to find the net and has only scored two goals, the opposite of Villarreal, who have scored nine and have scored two or more goals in all their matches, a sign of the danger they pose in that area.
Arrasate could make debuts for the last two to arrive at the club, Valery, at right back for the injured Pablo Maffeo, and Chiquinho, while Marcelino recovers Alex Baena and Eric Bailly, but loses Gerard Moreno for his attack.
ALAVÉS GOES FOR THE THIRD, ESPANYOL GOES FOR THE SECOND
Meanwhile, another team that has started the domestic season well is Deportivo Alavés, who have seven points after recovering from their initial defeat against Celta and who will be looking for their third consecutive victory in their visit (16.15) to an RCD Espanyol who are also in good spirits.
The recently promoted ‘perico’ team finally achieved its first league victory by beating Rayo Vallecano at home (2-1) and will try to give its fans at the RCDE Stadium a joy again against another theoretical direct rival.
The team managed by Manolo González, who before that victory came out on top at the Cívitas Metropolitano (0-0), seems to be adapting better to the new category, although they will face an Alavés team that arrives in Barcelona in good form.
The ‘babazorros’ went into the break with a certain amount of peace of mind after their victories at the Reale Arena against Real Sociedad (1-2) and at Mendizorrotza against UD Las Palmas (2-0) and will now try for a third success in a row, something they already achieved last season in an optimal final stretch of the campaign when they won without conceding against Atlético, Celta and Valencia.
Manolo González can now count on Leandro Cabrera in defence, who could even be a starter due to the absence of Fernando Calero, and could give opportunities to Álvaro Aguado or Irvin Cardona. Luis García only has Hugo Novoa out and must decide between Antonio Blanco, Stoichkov and Ander Guevara for two positions in the middle and between Toni Martínez and Kike García as striker.
SEVILLA WANTS TO TURN OFF THE ALARMS
Finally, the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (18.30) will see two teams in need after the international break face each other: Sevilla and Getafe, two of the five teams that have not yet managed to win, although they have left different impressions.
For the third season in a row, Sevilla’s project has not started in the best possible way and is already at the bottom of the table after only adding two of the 12 points at stake and showing problems both at the back and up front.
Xavi García-Pimienta knows that the Sevillian club lacks patience and will have to find solutions and good football to heal this ‘wound’ in their second consecutive home game after the defeat against Girona (0-2), which was added to the defeat also suffered against Villarreal (1-2). Saúl Ñíguez, due to suspension, and Loïc Badé, due to injury, will not be able to be in the starting eleven.
Getafe, for their part, have not yet tasted the taste of three points, but in their case, with one game less, the postponed one against Betis, they have not yet tasted losing after drawing all three of their matches where they have once again made clear their strengths and weaknesses.
The ‘azulones’ continue to show that they are a tough and competitive team that concedes little, having conceded only one goal, but that is not strong on an offensive level either, having scored only one goal. In this sense, José Bordalás, who continues with the important absence of Borja Mayoral, who is joined in defence by Omar Alderete, will try once again to squeeze the maximum out of his resources in search of repeating last year’s rout at the Sánchez-Pizjuán (0-3).
–SATURDAY TIMES FOR MATCHDAY 5 OF LALIGA EA SPORTS.
Mallorca – Villarreal. From Burgos Bengoetxea (C.Vasco) 14.00.
Espanyol – Alaves. Pulido Santana (C.Las Palmas) 16.15.
Sevilla – Getafe. Busquets Ferrer (C.Balearic) 18.30.
Real Sociedad – Real Madrid. Martinez Munuera (C.Valenciano) 21.00.