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

Espanyol's search for their first victory of 2026 will continue on Monday evening, when they welcome basement side Real Oviedo to RCDE Stadium.

The Catalan outfit are seventh in the La Liga table, four points behind sixth-placed Celta Vigo, while Oviedo are rock bottom of the division, 10 points behind 17th-placed Alaves.

Match preview

Espanyol ended 2025 with five straight league wins, and it was an excellent first half of the campaign for the White and Blues, but it has been an incredibly disappointing 2026 to date for the Catalan side, who have dropped out of the European spots.

Manolo Gonzalez's side have only managed to pick up three points from their last nine matches, with one of those coming last time out in a 2-2 draw with Elche.

Espanyol have collected 36 points from their 26 league matches this season, which has left them seventh in the table, four points behind sixth-placed Celta.

The White and Blues have picked up 20 points from their 13 home league matches this season, while Oviedo have only managed to win once on their travels in 2025-26.

Espanyol recorded a 2-0 win over Oviedo in the reverse match earlier this season, so they will be looking to complete a league double against the Blues.

Oviedo have lost three of their last four matches against Espanyol, while they have not managed to beat the Catalan outfit on their travels since September 1991.

There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough campaign for the Blues, who are operating at this level of football for the first time since 2000-01.

Guillermo Almada's side will enter this match off the back of a 3-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano, and they have lost three of their last four in Spain's top flight.

Oviedo have a record of three wins, eight draws and 15 defeats from their 26 league matches this season, with 17 points leaving them bottom of the table, 10 points behind 17th-placed Alaves, so survival is a tall order at this stage of proceedings.

Finding the back of the net has been a real issue this season, only netting 16 times in 26 matches, which is the worst attacking record in the division.

Espanyol La Liga form:

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Real Oviedo La Liga form:

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Team News

Espanyol will again be without the services of long-term absentee Javi Puado through injury, while Antoniu Roca faces a late fitness test.

The Catalan outfit will also be missing both Charles Pickel and Edu Exposito on Monday through suspension, with the former sent off against Elche last time out, while the latter picked up a milestone yellow card in the same match.

Kike Garcia has scored seven times in all competitions this season, and the experienced attacker is expected to keep his spot in the starting side.

As for Real Oviedo, David Costas, Eric Bailly, Ovie Ejaria, Thiago Borbas and Leander Dendoncker all face late fitness tests.

Federico Vinas has scored five times in La Liga this season, and there will be another spot in the final third of the field for the 27-year-old.

Santi Cazorla is an option to come into the midfield, but the experienced attacker is likely to remain among the substitutes for the first whistle.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Calero, Cabrera, Romero; Lozano, Zarate; Dolan, Terrats, Milla; K Garcia

Real Oviedo possible starting lineup:

Escandell; Vidal, Carmo, Calvo, Lopez; Fonseca, Sibo; Hassan, Reina, Chaira; Vinas

We say: Espanyol 2-1 Real Oviedo

Espanyol's first victory of 2026 could be about to arrive; Oviedo have struggled to compete at this level of football, and while it should be close in terms of the scoreline, we are expecting Espanyol to claim all three points on Monday.

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