Mallorca will be bidding to bounce back from their heavy defeat at Real Madrid when they continue their 2022-23 La Liga campaign against Almeria on Saturday afternoon.
The home side suffered a 4-1 loss to reigning champions Los Blancos last time out, while Almeria have been beaten in their last two, including a 1-0 reverse to Osasuna on September 12.
Match preview
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Mallorca are playing in consecutive La Liga seasons for the first time since 2013, having finished 16th in Spain's top flight last season, one point ahead of 18th-place Granada in a tense battle to avoid the drop.
The Pirates are likely to again be in the relegation mix this term, but it has been a relatively encouraging start to the season for the club, who have picked up five points from five games to sit 13th in the table.
Mallorca shared the spoils with Athletic Bilbao on the opening weekend of the season before losing 2-1 at home to Real Betis in their second game, but Javier Aguirre's side managed to put their first three points on the board on August 27 with a 2-0 success at Rayo Vallecano.
Los Bermellones then played out a 1-1 draw with Girona, but they will enter this game off the back of a 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid last weekend; Mallorca actually took the lead at Bernabeu in the 35th minute through Vedat Muriqi, but Los Blancos went on to score four times without reply to secure the three points.
This will be the first La Liga meeting between these two sides since May 2011, when Almeria recorded a 3-1 victory in front of their own supporters.
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Almeria are the reigning Segunda Division champions, with the team finishing top of the second tier last season to earn a position in La Liga for the first time since 2014-15.
La Union have also made a respectable start to the campaign, collecting four points from five matches, which has left them in 14th spot in the table, just three points behind eighth-placed Girona.
Almeria only narrowly lost at home to Real Madrid on the first weekend of the new season before picking up four points from their next two by drawing with Elche and beating Sevilla.
Rubi's side will enter this game off the back of successive defeats, though having lost 1-0 to Real Valladolid and Osasuna in their last two matches, so they are bidding to avoid a third straight loss here.
UDA also lost 4-1 to Mallorca on their last visit to the team in La Liga, which came back in January 2011, while these two sides also met during the 2020-21 Segunda Division campaign, with Mallorca winning both fixtures.
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Team News
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Mallorca will again be without the services of Dominik Greif due to a hip problem, while Amath Ndiaye and Tino Kadewere are doubts for the home side.
Head coach Aguirre will have been pleased with certain aspects of his team's performance against Real Madrid despite the heavy defeat, so there are unlikely to be wholesale changes here.
Muriqi, who has three league goals this season, and Lee Kang-in should continue as the front two in a 3-5-2 formation, while Dani Rodriguez and Rodrigo Battaglia are set to keep hold of their spots in the middle of midfield.
As for Almeria, Ivan Martos and Juanjo Nieto have been ruled out of the contest due to knee injuries, while Gonzalo Melero and Cesar de la Hoz remain doubts.
With no fresh injury concerns, there is every chance that head coach Rubi could select the same side that took to the field for the clash with Osasuna last time out.
Arnau Puigmal is perhaps the player pushing the hardest to be involved in the first XI, but Adri Embarba should ultimately continue alongside Dyego Sousa and Largie Ramazani in attack.
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Nastasic, Raillo, Valjent; Maffeo, Battaglia, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Costa; Muriqi, Kang-in
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Pozo, Ely, Babic, Akieme; Robertone, Eguaras, Costa; Embarba, Sousa, Ramazani
We say: Mallorca 1-1 Almeria
There is not an awful lot between these two teams in terms of quality, and we are finding it difficult to separate them here. Mallorca have home advantage, but Almeria have shown positives early in the campaign, and we are backing the points to be shared in a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
