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

Espanyol will be aiming to record their fourth La Liga victory of the campaign when they make the trip to Estadi Montilivi on Friday evening to take on Girona in the Catalan derby.

The visitors have made an excellent start to the season, sitting fourth in the La Liga table, while their opponents are rock bottom of the division, only picking up two points from their first six matches.

Match preview

Girona opened their 2025-26 La Liga campaign with three straight defeats to Rayo Vallecano, Villarreal and Sevilla, conceding 10 times in the process, before managing to hold Celta Vigo to a 1-1 draw on September 14.

The Catalan side were then thumped 4-0 by Levante on September 20, but they will enter this match off the back of a positive result, holding Athletic Bilbao to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night.

That said, it has still been a very disappointing start to the season for Michel's side, who have just two points from their opening six matches, which has left them at the bottom of the division.

Girona finished 16th in La Liga last season after finishing third in 2023-24, and it does appear that this will be another testing campaign for the White and Reds, who have only faced Espanyol on 12 previous occasions.

The hosts have won six of their 12 games against Espanyol, only losing three times in the process, but the last match between the two sides produced a 1-1 draw in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign.

Espanyol have not actually beaten Girona since April 2019, but their last two wins over their Catalan opponents have come on their travels, also triumphing in April 2018 in Spain's top flight.

The White and Blues finished 14th in La Liga last season, only two points outside of the relegation zone, so there was plenty of room for improvement during the 2025-26 campaign.

Espanyol picked up 10 points from their first four matches of the campaign, beating Atletico Madrid, Osasuna and Mallorca, in addition to drawing with Real Sociedad during a brilliant start.

Manolo Gonzalez's side suffered their first defeat of the campaign on September 20, going down 2-0 to Real Madrid at Bernabeu, before being held to a 2-2 draw by Valencia on Tuesday night.

Espanyol have 11 points from their first six matches, which has left them in fourth spot in the table, while they are the joint-fourth highest goalscorers in La Liga (10) at this stage of the campaign.

Girona La Liga form:

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Espanyol La Liga form:

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Team News

Girona will be missing Juan Carlos, David Lopez and Thomas Lemar through injury on Friday night, while Viktor Tsygankov, Donny van de Beek and Abel Ruiz are fitness doubts.

Vladyslav Vanat is already off the mark for his new club, finding the back of the net against Celta Vigo on his debut, and there will be another spot in the final third of the field for the summer arrival.

There are not expected to be any surprises when it comes to the home side's XI here, with Axel Witsel set to feature in midfield, while there will also be a starting role for Azzedine Ounahi.

As for Espanyol, Pere Milla is available again following a suspension, and the 33-year-old is set to return, having scored three times in four appearances during a brilliant start to the season.

Javi Puado has again been an impressive performer this term, already coming up with two goals, and there will be a spot in a wide position for the 27-year-old.

Kike Garcia is an option at centre-forward, but he is set to start on the bench, with Roberto Fernandez in line to play through the middle, while Pol Lozano should continue in central midfield.

Girona possible starting lineup:

Gazzaniga; Rincon, Reis, Blind, Moreno; Asprilla, Ounahi, Witsel, Martin, Gil; Vanat

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Cabrera, Calero, Romero; Dolan, Lozano, Milla, Exposito, Puado; Fernandez

We say: Girona 1-2 Espanyol

Girona are better than what they have shown this season, and the hosts will enter this match off the back of an impressive result away to Athletic. That said, Espanyol have been brilliant this term, and we are backing the away side to navigate their way to all three points on Friday night.

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