Two teams struggling at the wrong end of the table will lock horns in La Liga on Friday night as 16th-placed Real Valladolid welcome the division's basement side Huesca.
Valladolid have collected 20 points from their 20 matches this season to sit just two points above the relegation zone in Spain's top flight, while Huesca are currently rooted to the bottom.
Match preview
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Valladolid saw their Copa del Rey journey for the 2020-21 campaign come to an end on Tuesday evening as they suffered a 4-2 home defeat to fellow La Liga side Levante.
Sergio's side were also in league again against Levante on January 22, picking up a point in a 2-2 draw, which left them in 16th position in the table, just two points outside of the bottom three.
Consistency has been a real problem for Valladolid during the current season, and the fact that they have only managed four league wins in 2020-21 is a concern; that said, the White and Violets have only lost one of their last five in Spain's top flight and just two of their last eight.
The three-time Segunda Division champions are in their third straight season at this level of football and will be determined to consolidate, but a poor result against Huesca on Friday could see them pulled back into the relegation zone by the end of the weekend.
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Huesca, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw against Villarreal on January 23, which ended a run of five straight defeats in all competitions.
There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a difficult season for the promoted club, who sacked Michel as head coach earlier this month, with Pacheta now in charge of first-team affairs.
The new manager has picked up one point from his two matches in charge, and the performance and indeed result against Villarreal last weekend was a huge step in the right direction.
Huesca have picked up just 13 points from their 20 La Liga matches in 2020-21, though, recording just one victory, which has left them bottom of the division, six points from the safety of 17th position.
The points were actually shared in a 2-2 draw when these two teams locked horns earlier this season, but Valladolid ran out 1-0 winners when the pair last clashed at Estadio Municipal Jose Zorrilla in October 2018.
Real Valladolid La Liga form: LDWLDD
Real Valladolid form (all competitions): WLWDDL
Huesca La Liga form: DLLLLD
Huesca form (all competitions): LLLLLD
Team News
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Valladolid still have a number of absentees in their first-team squad, with Fede, Javi Sanchez, Jota, Raul Garcia, Jawad El Yamiq, Maranhao and Saidy Janko all unavailable for selection.
Head coach Sergio will make changes from the side that started against Levante in the Copa del Rey, with Ruben Alcaraz, Fabian Orellana and Shon Weissman among those in line to return.
Toni Villa was on the scoresheet in the cup defeat and should again feature in the final third of the field, but Sergi Guardiola is expected to be named on the bench.
As for Huesca, Pablo Insua, Sandro Ramirez, Pedro Mosquera, Juan Carlos and Andres Fernandez will all be absent on Friday night.
The strugglers did not pick up any fresh concerns against Villarreal, though, and it would not be a surprise to see new head coach Pacheta select the same XI.
Rafa Mir, Mikel Rico and Sergio Gomez are among those pushing for returns to the team, but the likes of Javi Ontiveros and Shinji Okazaki should retain their spots for this contest.
Real Valladolid possible starting lineup:
Masip; Perez, Joaquin, Bruno, Martinez; Alcaraz, Michel; Orellana, Villa, Plano; Weissman
Huesca possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Pulido, Siovas, Silva; Maffeo, Doumbia, Seoane, Galan; Escriche, Okazaki, Ontiveros
We say: Real Valladolid 1-1 Huesca
No team in La Liga has drawn more matches than Huesca (10) this season, and the 20th-placed side will have taken confidence from their result against Villarreal. Valladolid have drawn their last two in the league, meanwhile, and we can see the teams sharing the spoils on Friday night.
Top betting tip
Matt Law
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 Huesca win with a probability of 45.91%. A draw had a probability of 28.2% and a win for Real Valladolid had a probability of 25.88%.
The most likely scoreline for a Huesca win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.34%) and 1-2 (8.49%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.94%), while for a Real Valladolid win it was 1-0 (9.87%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Huesca would win this match.
