Looking to make it four wins on the bounce in all competitions, Real Betis will return to La Liga action on Sunday when they welcome Mallorca to the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Manuel Pellegrini's side will aim to strengthen their position in the top four of the Spanish top-flight table, while their visitors have climbed away from the relegation zone thanks to back-to-back victories.
Match preview
© Reuters
Thanks to a strong first half to the season, Real Betis currently find themselves in third spot in La Liga, boasting 43 points from their 24 games so far.
Such a tally is just 18 fewer than they managed in the entirety of last term, and that is largely down to an exciting attack, with only league leaders Real Madrid topping the 45 goals that Pellegrini's men have netted in league action.
They now come into the weekend's match having won seven of their last eight games in all competitions, and Los Verdiblancos bounced back from the only defeat in that run by returning to winning ways in their most recent league outing, beating basement side Levante 4-2 thanks to a Nabil Fekir brace and goals from Edgar Gonzalez and William Carvalho.
Pellegrini's side then gained more momentum on Thursday, picking up a 3-2 away win in the first leg of their Europa League knockout playoff tie with Zenit St Petersburg, as Guido Rodriguez, Willian Jose and Andres Guardado got on the scoresheet to take a slender advantage back to Spain.
Now turning their attention back to the domestic front, Los Verdiblancos will look to add a 14th league win of the campaign on Sunday to strengthen their position in third spot and further boost their claim for a first top-four finish since 2005.
© Reuters
They certainly face a tough test though, as newly-promoted Mallorca arrive with renewed confidence on the back of consecutive league victories.
Following their ascension back to the Spanish top flight, Los Piratas enjoyed a relatively commendable start before being dragged into the battle for survival as they went on a poor run between October and January, picking up just one win from a sequence of 13 league games.
That culminated in a four-game losing run, but Luis Garcia's side have seemingly arrested their slump since the beginning of February, firstly picking up a vital 2-1 victory in a true six-pointer against fellow strugglers Cadiz thanks to goals from Salva Sevilla and Vedat Muriqi, both of which coming from penalties.
Los Piratas then added an even more impressive victory last time out, as a late Unai Simon own goal saw them defeat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 after their initial 2-0 lead through Sevilla and Angel Rodriguez was cancelled out.
As a result of their impressive turnaround, Garcia's men now boast a six-point lead over the relegation zone with 15 league games left to play, and they will hope to further extend that with what would be another eye-catching result on Sunday.
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
After rotating their squad for Thursday's trip to Russia, Real Betis are expected to revert to a more usual starting XI for Sunday's game, with key men like Nabil Fekir, Hector Bellerin and William Carvalho expected to return from the outset.
Fekir, in particular, will be relied upon heavily by Pellegrini, after the Frenchman took his tally to six league goals for the season alongside six assists with his brace against Levante.
Defenders Martin Montoya and Juan Miranda remain out of action due to injuries, while creative midfielder Victor Camarasa is not expected to return from his own setback in time to feature.
Willian Jose will hope that his goal on Thursday will be enough to earn him a starting berth at the weekend, although Borja Iglesias will also be vying for an immediate return to the front line.
Mallorca have several issues to deal with, as Dominik Greif and Iddrisu Baba are out injured, while Brian Olivan is suspended.
However, Amath Ndiaye served his own suspension last time out, and the winger will return to contention.
Vedat Muriqi will again feature heavily in attack, having starred in the first two league games since his loan move from Lazio in January, finding the net in the win over Cadiz and providing an assist against Athletic Bilbao.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Bellerin, Bartra, Pezzella, Moreno; Carvalho, Rodriguez; Juanmi, Fekir, Tello; Iglesias
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rico; Maffeo, Raillo, Valjent, Costa; Kubo, Sevilla, Galarreta, D Rodriguez; A Rodriguez, Muriqi
We say: Real Betis 2-1 Mallorca
While Mallorca have certainly improved in recent weeks, we see Sunday as too tall of a task for them to come away with a result.
Pellegrini's men have been formidable throughout most of the campaign, and, with home advantage and in a three-game winning run, we expect them to get over the line again in their pursuit of a top-four finish.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 56.14%. A draw had a probability of 23.2% and a win for Mallorca had a probability of 20.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Betis win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.95%) and 2-1 (9.84%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11%), while for a Mallorca win it was 0-1 (6.16%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Real Betis in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Real Betis.
