Granada will be looking to put an end to a run of six league games without a win on Sunday when they host an Elche side who sit second bottom in the La Liga table.
The hosts advanced through to the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday night, while Elche suffered a 3-0 thrashing to Barcelona in their last game.
Match preview
© Reuters
Last time out, Granada travelled to Italy to take on Napoli in the second leg of their Europa League round-of-32 tie, with the Spanish side going into the game with a 2-0 lead.
That was quickly put under pressure when Piotr Zielinski put the side from Naples ahead on the night after just three minutes, before Angel Montoro scored to restore his side's two-goal cushion.
Fabian then found the net for Napoli in the second half, but the Italian outfit could not find an equaliser and Granada secured a 3-2 aggregate victory to move through to the round of 16, where they will take on Molde.
However, their recent league form has not matched that European success, as they have failed to win in their last six La Liga outings.
Most recently, Diego Martinez's side fell to a disappointing 3-2 away defeat to basement side Huesca, when Domingos Quina put Granada ahead before three goals in the first half for the hosts turned the game on its head, and Alberto Soro's second-half goal was not enough to salvage a point.
As a result of their poor recent league form, Los Nazaries have fallen to 10th place in La Liga, meaning they are no longer in pole position to secure Europa League qualification for the second consecutive season.
However, a win on Sunday would see their situation change, as they would jump back up to eighth spot and vastly improve their chances of securing continental football for next campaign.
© Reuters
They come up against an Elche side who will be desperate for a win of their own, as they look to escape the bottom three.
Last time out, Fran Escriba's side were punished at the Camp Nou as Lionel Messi scored a brace followed by a Jordi Alba goal which put the game out of sight, sealing the three points for Barcelona and condemning Elche to their 10th league loss of the season.
Before that defeat, Escriba's men picked up a crucial victory for their survival bid, as they defeated Eibar 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Dani Calvo.
That result meant that Los Franjiverdes now sit level on points with both Real Valladolid and Eibar, who occupy the two spaces above them, meaning a win on Sunday could move them out of the relegation zone.
Granada La Liga form: DLDDLL
Granada form (all competitions): LDLWLL
Elche La Liga form: LLDLWL
Team News
© Reuters
Granada will remain without several players through injury, as forward Luis Suarez and midfielder Luis Milla continue their spells on the sidelines.
They will also be without centre-back German Sanchez, who was shown a red card in added time in the defeat to Huesca.
Meanwhile, the visitors should have a full squad to pick from for this game with no major injury worries.
Their attack will be led by Lucas Boye, who has netted four La Liga goals this campaign.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Diaz; Foulquier, Duarte, Perez, Neva; Eteki, Quina; Soro, Montoro, Kenedy; Molina
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Barragan, Gonzalo, Calvo, Mojica; Morente, Mfulu, Guti, Rigoni; Carrillo, Boye
We say: Granada 2-1 Elche
With the boost of confidence brought about by their advancement to the final 16 of the Europa League, we see Granada getting back to winning ways in the league with a narrow home win here.
While Elche will be battling hard to jump out of the relegation zone, we expect them to fall just short against a Granada side who are also desperate to move up the league table.
Top tip
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 Granada win with a probability of 40.68%. A win for Elche had a probability of 31.88% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Granada win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.41%) and 2-0 (7.54%). The likeliest Elche win was 0-1 (9.99%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.96%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Granada would win this match.
