Preview: Espanyol vs Real Betis - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Betis will attempt to extend their five-game unbeaten run in all competitions when they travel to the RCDE Stadium for Sunday's La Liga meeting with Espanyol.

Los Verdiblancos are currently sitting in sixth position in the standings, while the hosts are level on points and just one place behind on goal difference.

Match preview

After narrowly avoiding the drop last term, Espanyol have made an encouraging start to the 2025-26 campaign, having won three, drawn three and lost just one of their opening seven games.

With that said, their impressive start has lost some momentum with a three-game winless run that started with a 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Espanyol then left it late to salvage a 2-2 draw against Valencia in their most recent outing at the RCDE Stadium, before they played out the first goalless draw of the 2025-26 La Liga season in their away meeting with fellow Catalan side Girona.

Manolo Gonzalez's side are now preparing for Sunday's tough test against Real Betis, a team that they have beaten just once in their previous 11 La Liga encounters (D3, L7).

Their only victory in that period took place in January 2023, when Martin Braithwaite scored the decisive goal in a narrow 1-0 home win.

Over two years on, Espanyol will hope that home advantage will be a decisive factor, especially as they have won three of their opening four matches at the RCDE Stadium this term (D1).

Betis have proven to be a tough team to beat in the first two months of the 2025-26 season, having won four, drawn four and lost just one of their nine competitive matches.

Los Verdiblancos will carry significant momentum into Sunday's fixture after recording back-to-back victories for the first time this season, including a 2-0 win in last weekend's home clash against Osasuna.

That result took their tally to 12 points from seven matches, leaving them in sixth position and just a point adrift of fourth-placed Elche ahead of matchday eight.

While Espanyol have had over a week to rest and recover, Betis will only have a couple of days to prepare for Sunday's fixture after claiming a 2-0 victory in Thursday's Europa League away clash against Ludogorets Razgrad, thanks to a Giovani Lo Celso strike and an own goal.

Betis have fared well in recent meetings with Espanyol, having won each of their last three head-to-head matches, including a dramatic win in May's trip to the RCDE Stadium.

On that occasion, Lo Celso scored an 85th-minute equaliser before Antony completed the turnaround in stoppage time to snatch all three points with the club's second victory in the last three away games against Espanyol.

Espanyol La Liga form:

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Real Betis La Liga form:

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Real Betis form (all competitions):

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Team News

Experienced Espanyol defender Leandro Cabrera is set to miss a second successive match through injury, while midfielder Urko Gonzalez is a doubt and will have to be assessed ahead of Sunday's home fixture.

With uncertainty surrounding Gonzalez's availability, Edu Exposito looks well set to earn a recall after settling for a substitute appearance against Girona.

Roberto Fernandez is likely to retain his place up front, although he is facing competition from veteran striker Kike Garcia.

As for the visitors, they will be without the injured Sofyan Amrabat, Diego Llorente, Marc Bartra, Nelson Deossa and Isco, while Pablo Garcia is away with the Spain squad at the Under-20 World Cup.

After making changes in midweek, Pellegrini could recall Hector Bellerin, Ricardo Rodriguez, Pablo Fornals, Antony and Abde Ezzalzouli.

Cucho Hernandez will also come back into the starting lineup, with the striker looking to add to the three league goals that he has scored this season.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Calero, Riedel, Romero; Exposito, Lozano; Dolan, Milla, Puado; Roberto

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Valles; Bellerin, Gomez, Natan, Rodriguez; Fornals, Altimira; Antony, Lo Celso, Ezzalzouli; Cucho

We say: Espanyol 1-1 Real Betis

Betis will be in high spirits after recording back-to-back victories, but while they will be targeting maximum points on Sunday, we think they will have to settle for a share of the spoils, taking into account the fact that Espanyol are yet to lose at the RCDE Stadium this season.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.