Preview: Espanyol vs Elche - prediction, team news, lineups

Espanyol and Elche will both be looking to bounce back from defeats when they lock horns in Spain's top flight on Friday evening.

The hosts, who are eighth in the La Liga table, will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Rayo Vallecano, while 20th-placed Elche suffered a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid last time out.

Match preview

Espanyol boast a record of two wins, one draw and three defeats from their first six league matches of the season, with seven points leaving them in eighth spot in the division.

The Catalan outfit have picked up four points from their three matches in September, opening the month with a 1-1 draw against Sevilla before beating Osasuna 2-0.

However, Manolo Gonzalez's side will enter the match off the back of a defeat, going down 2-1 to Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday, so Espanyol will be aiming to bounce back in this contest.

The White and Blues are unbeaten in their last six matches against Elche, including a 1-0 victory in the corresponding match during the 2025-26 campaign.

However, the last game between the two sides in March of this year finished 2-2.

Elche have not overcome Espanyol since January 2022, and they have only been victorious in 15 of the previous 49 meetings between the two sides in all competitions.

The Green-Striped Ones will enter the match off the back of a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid; Los Blancos were two goals ahead before the scores were levelled at 2-2 in the 83rd minute, but Carlos Espi came up with a stoppage-time winner for Jose Mourinho's side.

It has been a tough start to the season for Martin Anselmi's side, who have a record of two draws and four defeats from their six matches, with two points leaving them bottom of the table.

Elche have the worst defensive record in the division this season, conceding 16 times, but they have actually scored eight, which is more than third-placed Real Betis.

Anselmi's team can take encouragement from their last away match, meanwhile, holding Athletic Bilbao to a 1-1 draw on September 12.

Espanyol La Liga form:

Elche La Liga form:

Team News

Espanyol will be missing Omar El Hilali on Friday evening, with the 23-year-old sent off in the latter stages of the team's defeat to Rayo Vallecano last time out.

Meanwhile, Javi Puado, Kike Garcia, Jofre Carreras and Andoni Gorosabel are unavailable for selection on Friday night due to injury problems.

Bryan Zaragoza and Exposito could both be introduced into the side following the defeat to Rayo Vallecano, while El Hilali might be replaced by Jose Angel Lopez.

Due to the relatively quick turnaround, Elche head coach Anselmi is expected to make changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Real Madrid.

Thomas Lemar, Ruben Sanchez and Fer Nino are all pushing to be introduced into the XI.

Yago Santiago will again miss out for Elche due to a knee issue, while Adam Boayar is likely to be unavailable for selection due to a muscular problem.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; J Lopez, Riedel, Cabrera, Hinojo; Gonzalez, Exposito; Hernandez, Zaragoza, Hartman; R Fernandez

Elche possible starting lineup:

Dituro; R Sanchez, Redondo, Chust, Revivo; Lemar, Neto, Aguado, Villar, Nino; Osorio

We say: Espanyol 1-1 Elche

Elche can take a lot of encouragement from their performance against Real Madrid, and we are backing the division's basement side to secure a share of the spoils in this contest.

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