Rayo Vallecano will attempt to continue their excellent 2021-22 campaign on Wednesday night when they square off against Mirandes in the Copa del Rey.
At a time when the visitors are challenging for the European spots in La Liga, Mirandes are down in 15th position in a hotly-congested second tier table.
Match preview
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While there have been plenty of surprises in La Liga during the opening half of the campaign, few have been as noteworthy as Rayo Vallecano's spell in the top six of the table.
Although four defeats have come in their last 10 fixtures, they have been at Real Betis, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, but that run of games also includes a win over Barcelona.
Having only earned promotion from the second tier in 2020-21, Andoni Iraola will be generally content that Vallecano are nowhere near a relegation battle, the current gap standing at 14 points.
Nevertheless, there will be a desire to capitalise on their strong form, and further progress in the Copa del Rey could lay further foundations for better things to come.
Los Franjirrojos have recorded away wins at Guijuelo and Bergantinos to reach this stage of the competition.
Meanwhile, Mirandes head into this fixture having required six points from three games to move them away from the drop zone in the Segunda Division.
On Sunday, Mirandes posted a 2-0 triumph over Real Zaragoza, Alejandro Marques scoring the two goals either side of a sending off for their opponents.
Lolo Escobar will not be satisfied with his team's performances this season, but they have at least earned an opportunity to test themselves against top-tier opposition.
Their two victories so far have been against San Roque Lepe and Lugo, Marques netting three of his team's five strikes.
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Team News
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Having been reduced to a cameo outing against former club Atletico Madrid at the weekend, Radamel Falcao should be named in the Vallecano XI.
Oscar Trejo and Bebe will also expected to be handed game time, with Andres Martin coming in on the right-hand side of midfield.
Despite Luca Zidane getting a rare outing at the weekend, regular goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski could be restored between the sticks.
Mirandes centre-back Victor Sanchis only lasted 45 minutes at the weekend, leaving Iago Lopez in line for an opportunity in his place.
The remainder of the side could stay the same with Escobar looking to build momentum after the win over Zaragoza.
Mirandes possible starting lineup:
Lizoain; Carreira, Lopez, Arroyo, Garcia de Albeniez; Gelabert, Capellini, Riquelme; Hassan, Marques, Brugui
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Zidane; Balliu, Saveljich, Maras, Garcia; Comesana, Trejo; Martin, Lopez, Bebe; Falcao
We say: Mirandes 0-2 Rayo Vallecano
With Vallecano likely to make changes for this contest, Mirandes have every chance of remaining competitive throughout the 90 minutes. Nevertheless, we are backing the visitors to still prevail with something to spare.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Rayo Vallecano win with a probability of 42.3%. A win for Mirandes had a probability of 31.15% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rayo Vallecano win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.96%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.75%) and 0-2 (7.6%). The likeliest Mirandes win was 1-0 (9.1%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.61%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 11% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Rayo Vallecano in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Rayo Vallecano.
