Europa League hopefuls Real Betis host relegation candidates Huesca at the Benito Villamarin this weekend, with three points being a worthy prize by both outfits.
Manuel Pellegrini's Betis could climb as high as fifth in the table with a win on Sunday, while Huesca could potentially leapfrog relegation rivals Getafe and Alaves into 15th place with three points this weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Like fellow Europa League contenders Real Sociedad and Villarreal, Real Betis have not shown a real drive to secure European football next season, with Pellegrini's men drawing five of their last six games.
On the flipside, Betis have gone unbeaten since mid-March and have only conceded eight goals in ten games, a great example of how the team has shirked off their early-season blunders.
Against Eibar last time out, Pellegrini's men were denied the three points thanks to a late equaliser from Sergi Enrich, who found the back of the net in the 83rd minute.
Much like in that tie, this weekend Betis will come up against another hungry, relegation-threatened outfit, and they will have to fight hard for all three points.
© Reuters
Huesca look set for an emotional rollercoaster over the next two weeks with La Liga survival still very much hanging in the balance.
With six teams still jostling amongst themselves in the relegation fight, calling who is likely to go down is proving incredibly difficult.
Huesca's dreams of survival looked to be diminishing before their shock 1-0 win against Athletic Club last time out, with Sandro Ramirez bagging the winning goal in the 61st minute.
Currently 17th on 33 points, Huesca have a slight advantage in the race for top-flight survival, but that could all be lost if Pacheta's men are defeated by Betis this weekend.
However, three points for Huesca this weekend could all but seal their quest for survival, and that will certainly play on the minds of the team this weekend.
- D
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Talismanic attackers Joaquin and Sergio Canales could both return to the starting lineup for Betis this weekend, after both were left out of the starting 11 last time out.
Martin Montoya, Dani Martin and Victor Camarasa are all out for Betis this weekend due to injury.
A big miss for Pacheta this weekend is defender Pablo Insua, who is out for the season with an ACL injury.
Goalkeeper Antonio Valera is also unavailable for this tie due to a shoulder injury.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Emerson, Bartra, Ruiz, Moreno; Rodriguez, Guardado; Joaquin, Fekir, Canales; Iglesias
Huesca possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Vavro, Pulido, Siovas; Maffeo, Ferreiro, Seoane, Rico, Galan; Mir, Sandro
We say: Real Betis 1-2 Huesca
With the defensive record that Betis are currently boasting, Huesca will have to come out swinging to get the three points, but we think Pacheta's men have what it takes to beat the Andalusians and take that huge step towards La Liga survival.
Top tip
Francis Buchanan
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 Real Betis win with a probability of 51.83%. A draw had a probability of 25% and a win for Huesca had a probability of 23.17%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Betis win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.09%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.69%) and 2-1 (9.51%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.87%), while for a Huesca win it was 0-1 (7.41%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Real Betis in this match.
