Almeria welcome Getafe to the Power Horse Stadium on Wednesday, looking to continue their excellent recent form in front of their own fans.
The Andalusian side were unable to contain a relentless Barcelona on the weekend, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at Camp Nou, while the visitors were frustrated by Cadiz in a hard-fought 0-0 draw.
Match preview
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As the side with the worst away record in LaLiga this season, it was always going to be an uphill battle for newly-promoted Almeria on Saturday, as they travelled to take on a Barcelona side with 15 goals scored and zero conceded at Camp Nou.
Seeing just 30% of the ball and facing 27 shots, their trip to Catalonia was just as tough as many will have expected, although the 2-0 defeat could have been much worse, given the 4.34 expected goals figure for their talent-stacked opponents.
Nonetheless, despite picking up just one point from a possible 21 on their travels, Rubi's men have recorded four wins from six at the Power Horse stadium since their promotion back to LaLiga, including their last three in succession, against Rayo Vallecano, Girona and Celta Vigo.
Almeria have also scored three goals in each of those contests, including a spectacular 40-yard free-kick from Adrian Embarba against Girona, and are a potent attacking unit in front of their own fans.
Facing a Getafe side who have averaged just 35% possession on the road this season, the home side will be looking to snatch the upper hand early on in this game.
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Quique Sanchez Flores's men, on the other hand, have been extremely pragmatic of late, and remain unbeaten in their last five LaLiga outings, despite a disappointing stalemate with Cadiz last time out.
In a game of big chances at both ends, Los Azulones were reduced to nine men deep into injury time, before Turkish talisman Enes Unal struck the post with a wicked free-kick in the 101st minute of the contest.
Despite sitting 13th in the table, chants for Sanchez Flores to be dismissed were heard from the crowd on Saturday, from a fanbase who were perhaps expecting more expansive football after a promising summer of recruitment.
Nonetheless, having saved the club from a nightmare start to the previous campaign, the former Watford boss will be confident that he has the support of the board, as they look to make it a full month of action without a defeat as they visit last season's Segunda Division champions.
Team News
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The hosts will be without key centre-back Rodrigo Ely on Wednesday, as the 29-year-old limped off after 68 minutes at Camp Nou.
Another of his defensive partners, 18-year-old Kaiky, will also be unavailable due to an accumulation of yellow cards, leaving Rubi with a shortage at the back which could see a switch to a back four.
For the visitors, a spate of late cards sees both Gaston Alvarez and Portu suspended for this trip, while Domingos Duarte is ruled out for accumulating too many yellows.
Jordan Amavi will return from his prior suspension, but both Mauro Arambarri and Fabricio Angileri will remain sidelined through injury.
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Akieme, Chumi, Babic, Pozo; Melero, De la Hoz, Robertone; Embarba, Toure, Baptistao
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Iglesias, Mitrovic, Alderete, Djene, Suarez; Maksimovic, Milla, Alena; Mayoral, Unal
We say: Almeria 1-1 Getafe
Almeria have been electric at home of late, and should have enough attacking firepower to break down a Getafe side who will likely sit deep and look to absorb pressure before hitting on the break.
The visitors have been extremely efficient on the road, however, and we are backing them to grind out another result in another low-possession smash-and-grab.
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