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

The home side, who are bottom of the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 5-1 defeat to Sevilla, while 19th-placed Granada drew 1-1 with Real Betis last time out.

Match preview

Almeria have only picked up two points from their opening seven matches of the La Liga season, which has left them bottom of the table heading into the next set of fixtures.

Vicente Moreno's side opened their campaign with back-to-back losses to Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid before picking up a point away to Cadiz at the end of August.

Almeria have lost three of their last four, meanwhile, including a 5-1 reverse to Sevilla on Tuesday, meaning that they have now conceded 18 times in the league this term, which is a concern at this early stage.

La Union finished 17th in La Liga last season, only narrowly avoiding relegation to the second tier, and they are bidding to make it successive campaigns at this level for the first time since 2015.

UDA have not actually faced Granada in Spain's top flight since the 2014-15 campaign, recording a 3-0 victory in the corresponding contest on home soil.

Granada, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Real Betis on Thursday evening, which ended a run of three straight losses to Real Sociedad, Girona and Las Palmas.

Assane Diao sent Real Betis ahead in the 51st minute of the contest before Lucas Boye levelled the scores in the 67th minute, with Paco Lopez's side moving onto four points from seven matches courtesy of a record of one win, one draw and five defeats.

The reigning Segunda Division champions have also conceded 18 times in the league this season, meaning that this will be a meeting of the worst two defensive sides in the division thus far.

These are the type of matches that are likely to play a big role in whether Granada stay in the league this season, and they actually finished seventh and ninth in 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively before being relegated in 2021-22 courtesy of an 18th-placed finish.

Lopez's side have lost all three of their away league matches this season, conceding nine times in the process, although two of those games have been against Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

Almeria La Liga form:

L

D

L

L

D

L

Granada La Liga form:

L

W

L

L

L

D

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Team News

Almeria will be without the services of three first-team players for this contest, with Lucas Robertone, Marc Pubill and Martin Svidersky unavailable for selection.

Sergio Arribas has been the team's standout player this season, finding the back of the net on four occasions, and he will again feature in an advanced area for the home side.

Head coach Moreno will make changes to the side that started against Sevilla, with Chumi and Sergio Akieme both in line for returns to the defence, while Adri Embarba should be introduced in the final third.

As for Granada, Jesus Vallejo remains on the sidelines with a muscular issue, while Myrto Uzuni was forced off against Real Betis in the first half on Thursday night.

Bryan Zaragoza could now be introduced in the final third of the field, but it might otherwise be the same side that took to the field for the first whistle of the 1-1 draw.

As a result, Jose Callejon might start on the bench once again, with Oscar Melendo and Antonio Puertas operating in the wide positions.

Almeria possible starting lineup:

Maximiano; Chumi, Montes, Gonzalez, Akieme; Lopy, Baba; Embarba, Melero, Arribas; Suarez

Granada possible starting lineup:

Ferreira; Sanchez, Miquel, Torrente, Neva; Melendo, Villar, Gumbau, Puertas; Zaragoza, Boye

We say: Almeria 1-1 Granada

This is a really important match, even at this stage of the season, as a poor result for either could cause major confidence issues. It would not be a surprise to see a home or an away win here, but we just have a feeling that the points will be shared on Sunday afternoon.

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