Preview: Granada vs. Getafe - prediction, team news, lineups

Getafe 's fight for a top-four spot in La Liga will continue on Friday evening when they head to the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes to take on Granada.

The visitors are currently fifth in Spain's top flight - level on points with fourth-placed Real Sociedad - while Granada occupy ninth as the 2019-20 campaign prepares to resume.

Match preview

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The 2019-20 La Liga season has been on hold for more than three months due to the coronavirus outbreak, which halted the majority of football across the globe.

European leagues are slowly resuming, though, and Granada will be looking to pick up where they left off in La Liga, having embarked on a four-game unbeaten run before the action was halted towards the start of March.

Diego Martinez 's side were only promoted back to La Liga for this season courtesy of finishing second in the 2018-19 Segunda Division, but they have shown few signs of returning to the second tier.

Indeed, a total of 38 points from 27 matches has left them in ninth position in the table, some 13 points clear of the relegation zone, which is an indication of the strength of their season.

El Grana have beaten Real Valladolid and Osasuna in addition to drawing with Celta Vigo and Levante in their last four matches, but they did suffer a 3-1 defeat in the reverse match with Getafe back in October.

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Getafe were only just denied a top-four spot last season as they finished fifth in the table, but the capital outfit are making another strong play for a Champions League finish during the 2019-20 campaign.

Jose Bordalas 's side have picked up 46 points from their 27 matches thus far, leaving them level on points with fourth-placed Sociedad and just one point off third-placed Sevilla in the table.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are clear at the summit, but there is a fascinating race behind them for the final two Champions League positions, and Getafe are certainly in the conversation at the moment.

The Madrid-based outfit have only won one of their last four in the league - losing to Barcelona and Sevilla in the process - and were held to a goalless draw by struggling Celta Vigo on March 7.

These are the type of matches that Getafe will surely have to win if they are to finish in the top four, though, and there is simply no downplaying the importance of Friday's contest.

Granada La Liga form: WLWWDD

Granada form (all competitions): LWWDWD

Getafe La Liga form: WWLLWD

Getafe form (all competitions): LWLLWD

Team News

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Granada will be without the services of Antonio Puertas through suspension, while Alex Martinez, Quini and Neyder Lozano are also expected to miss out through injury.

The XI is expected to have a similar look to the one that started the 1-1 draw with Levante last time out, meaning that experienced striker Roberto Soldado should again lead the line.

Darwin Machis for Fede Vico is an alteration that could take place in the final third, though, while Dimitri Foulquier is also likely to be in Martinez's thinking for a starting role.

As for Getafe, Nemanja Maksimovic and Jaime Mata will both miss out through suspension due to the yellow cards that they picked up against Celta, while Mauro Arambarri 's straight red in the same game also rules him out.

Filip Manojlovic is also expected to miss out with a back injury, meaning that the visitors will be far from at full strength heading into Friday's contest.

Angel and Kenedy are both in line to start due to the absences of Mata and Maksimovic, while Amath Ndiaye could also come into the XI as part of a midfield four.

Granada possible starting lineup:

Rui Silva; Duarte, Sanchez, Vallejo; Neva, Eteki, Gonalons, Diaz; Fernandez, Soldado, Machis

Getafe possible starting lineup:

Soria; Suarez, Dakonam, Etxeita, Nyom; Kenedy, Etebo, Ndiaye, Cucurella; Molina, Angel

We say: Granada 1-1 Getafe

This is a really, really tough game to call as it is difficult to know how both sides will react to the circumstances surrounding the match. Granada had been in the better form before the action was postponed, but Getafe have enjoyed another excellent season. We are finding it hard to separate them and have therefore backed a 1-1 draw, which would not be the worst result in the world for either side.