Preview: Elche vs. Espanyol - prediction, team news, lineups

The home team are currently 20th in the table, 11 points from the safety of 17th position, which is currently occupied by Espanyol, who have only picked up one point from their last three matches.

Match preview

Elche picked up their first La Liga victory of the campaign on February 4, recording a 3-1 win over Villarreal, but they were unable to build on the positive result, losing by four goals at Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

Los Franjiverdes have only collected nine points from their 21 league matches this season, which has left them rooted to the bottom, some 11 points behind 17th-placed Espanyol on the same number of games.

As a result, it is going to take a monumental effort from Pablo Machin's side to survive this season, but they now have back-to-back home games against Espanyol and Real Betis before starting March away to Mallorca.

Elche have found it difficult at home this season, though, only picking up six points from 10 matches, while they also unsurprisingly have the worst away record in the division this term.

The Green-striped ones have finished 17th and 13th in their last two La Liga campaigns, and should they manage to avoid relegation, it would mean a third straight season at this level for the first time since 1978.

Espanyol, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 3-2 home defeat to Real Sociedad on Monday night.

The Catalan outfit were three goals behind just past the hour before scoring twice late on through Sergi Darder and Brian Olivan, but they were unable to find a late third, which would have secured a valuable point.

Diego Martinez's side have only picked up one point from their last three matches, with the disappointing form seeing them drop into 17th position in the table, having collected just 21 points from 21 matches.

Espanyol are only one point clear of 18th-placed Valencia and will certainly be wary of dropping back into the Segunda Division, having played at that level in 2020-21.

The White and Blues have picked up a respectable 11 points from their 10 away league matches this season, suffering just three defeats in the process, which should hand them confidence ahead of this match.

Espanyol have not actually beaten Elche in La Liga since March 2014, though, with three of their last four matches at this level of football finishing all square.

Elche La Liga form:

L

D

D

L

W

L

Espanyol La Liga form:

D

W

W

L

D

L

Espanyol form (all competitions):

W

L

W

L

D

L

Team News

Elche will be missing Diego Gonzalez due to the booking that the defender picked up against Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Pere Milla, Alex Collado and John Donald will be absent for the contest due to fitness issues.

Elche's squad will be boosted by the return of Omar Mascarell and Helibelton Palacios following suspensions, though, and the pair are expected to be back in the XI for this match.

Milla's absence is a big one considering that the 30-year-old has scored six league goals this season, and his injury is likely to mean another start in midfield for Gonzalo Verdu.

As for Espanyol, Leandro Cabrera will miss out through suspension, as the centre-back was sent off in his side's defeat to Real Sociedad last time out.

There is no change to their injury situation, meanwhile, with Cesar Montes, Joselu, Keidi Bare and Adria Pedrosa all still unavailable for selection this weekend.

However, Espanyol's squad will be boosted by the return of Ronael Pierre-Gabriel, who was not involved in the clash with Real Sociedad due to a suspension, and he is expected to return at right-back.

Elche possible starting lineup:

Badia; Magalian, Palacios, Roco; Carmona, Gumbau, Mascarell, Verdu, Clerc; Ponce, Boye

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Fernandez; Pierre-Gabriel, Gomez, Calero, Olivan; Vidal, Darder, Souza, Melamed; Braithwaite, Puado

We say: Elche 1-1 Espanyol

Elche were excellent in their recent home win over Villarreal, but they are still a difficult team to back due to their struggles this season. Espanyol have drawn five of their away 10 league games this season, and we can see another stalemate on Sunday afternoon.

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