Steemitfootball La Liga Gameweek 21 Preview Part 1

steemitfootball (41)in #laliga • 7 years ago

Athletic Club - Eibar

The round 21 this season will start with a delicious Basque-derby. The big team Athletic vs the little fairytale, Eibar. Both teams are coming into this game in good form, and Athletic are unbeaten since the start of November in La Liga when they lost away to Celta, while Eibar have earned 20 points in the last eight games.

Athletic will have an advantage in this game playing last Friday, while Eibar played against Málaga Monday earning «just» a draw. Unfortunately for the away side, Sergi Enrich got a knee injury in training and will miss this game together with Paulo Oliveira and Pedro León who is also missing out this game. The home side have had some good weeks now with the young promising goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga and the thunderbolt Iñaki Williams increasing their wages, buy out clauses and length of contracts. Besides this, Aymeric Laporte have this week been heavy linked with a move to Manchester City, and will probably leave soon for a fee around €65M. This could potentially be the last game for Laporte being in the squad, but Athletic will be without Kepa, De Marcos, Mikel Balenziaga and Iker Muniain.

This game I expect Athletic to win. They are the biggest club, and will have a big advantage playing at home knowing they have four wins in a row against the little Basque-team.

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Deportivo - Levante

A huuuuuuge relegation-battle between number 18 and 17 at the table. If Deportivo manage to win this, they will climb in front of Levante and will be a huge boost for the rest of the season for a team that hasn’t got a win since the start of December against Leganés at home.

For the visitors, Levante isn’t much better either, and haven’t manage three points since November taking just three points after that. They have three losses in a row, and if they can’t turn this around quickly I can’t see them staying up at the end of the season. This could also be the debut for the new-signing Iván Villar coming on loan from Celta Vigo.

Deportivo will be without the winger Fede Cartabia in this game, while Raúl Fernández, Toño, Alegria and Ivi Lopez will be out for Levante. No big players missing out this game, so this could be an interesting game between two teams in crisis surely needing all the three points they can get.

I have Deportivo as little favorites here as I mean they are a better team, with better players like Lucas Pérez or Florin Andone capable of deciding this game. For sure this will be a tough game for both sides, but the home team will have some enthusiastic fans behind their back in the full 90 minutes.

Valencia - Real Madrid

A partidazo again from the Mestalla! Number three against the team behind, Real Madrid. The positive surprise this season versus the negative one. Marcelino vs Zidane. Guedes vs Cristiano. This game at the Bernabeu was a crazy game ending 2-2, and this will probably be another one too. Valencia was lucky to qualify against Alavés in the Copa del Rey after a penalty shoot out, while Real Madrid was knocked out at home against Leganés (!). The crisis is real and just increasing. How long can Zinedine Zidane survive this?

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I see this game with end to end stuff, and luckily for the viewers there is no big players out for this game. Valencia will still be without Carlos Soler and Jeison Murillo, but Jesus Vallejo will be the only one missing for Los Blancos.

This game is for sure very hard to predict and can end with every possible outcome, but a full Mestalla with great atmosphere will for sure help the Valencia-team to beat the big team from the capital. I have to go for a draw in this game, but maybe Valencia can make another big win this season. May be…

Málaga - Girona

A big game for Málaga fighting for relegation and earning a 1-1 draw at Ipurua Monday. This will be the first game at home for the new manager, José González. This game they will play against a side that has impressed a lot during the whole season, coming from a draw at the Metropolitano against Atlético Madrid.

Málaga is in terrible form, and haven’t got a win since december against Real Sociedad, taking just two points in the last seven games. Things is not looking good for Málaga, and they need to turn this around very soon if they want to survive. That will not be easy playing against a side with two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five games. The first time they met this season, Girona also got a 1-0 win, so Málaga will struggle a lot in this game.

No big injuries going into this game for Málaga with Juankar and Miguel Torres out, and Kuzmanović missing out due to suspension after he got two yellow cards in the space of 48 seconds in the last game against Eibar. Girona will hope their Uruguayan-striker Christian Stuani will be back for this game, but he is real doubt missing the last game against Atlético after a injury against Las Palmas. Aday Benítez and Juanpe will be out due to suspension, and Pedro Alcalá will still be out with injury.

Very hard to pick a winner here, but I can’t see many positive things in the Málaga team, so for me Girona is the favorites to win this game.

Villarreal - Real Sociedad

What’s happening with La Real? Two wins and three draws in the last 10 games in La Liga being very disappointingly just number 15 at the table. They will here play a strong home side Villarreal, with three wins in a row in all competitions and a win against Levante last weekend after their big win at the Bernabeu.

The last time this two met, La Real won 3-0 against a very weak and injured Villarreal side. Villarreal have struggled a lot with injuries this season, and Bruno Soriano, Rúben Semedo, Nicola Sansone and Andrés Fernández will miss this game against an away side probably still missing Iñigo Martínez and David Zurutuza.

I think we will se some goals in this game, but I also have Villarreal to win this. Maybe 3-1/3-2? If Real Sociedad loose this game I think we will see Eusebio gone after this game. It’s very strange to see this side struggling so much with players like Álvaro Odriozola, Mikel Oyarzabal and Xabi Prieto in this team.

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