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

Eibar and Elche will both be looking to get off the mark with their first La Liga victory of the campaign when they meet at Ipurua Municipal Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The hosts have collected one point from their first three matches and are in the bottom three, as are recently-promoted Elche after losing 3-0 in their only game so far.

Match preview

Eibar were undone by a late goal from Unai Lopez in Sunday's 2-1 home loss to Athletic Bilbao, making it back-to-back losses by that scoreline since drawing 0-0 with Celta Vigo.

That remains Los Armeros' only point of the season and now the pressure is on to get off the mark with a first win at the fourth time of asking.

Elche are also winless, albeit after playing just the one match so far - a heavy loss to Real Sociedad on Saturday, with all three goals coming in the second half.

Expectations are a lot lower for Los Franjiverdes compared to their opponents given that this is their first season back in the big time after earning promotion last time out.

Survival will be the target for head coach Jorge Almiron, whereas Eibar will be looking to consolidate after finishing in 14th place last season.

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However, they have since lost last term's top scorer Fabian Orellana on a free transfer, while Charles and Gonzalo Escalante have also moved on.

That has put pressure on £2m signing Damian Kadzior to hit the ground running, but he has so far failed to register a goal or assist in three outings - two of those as a sub.

Elche finished 13th in their last season at this level in 2014-15, only to be relegated because of financial issues, and they have been busy since earning promotion.

Raul Guti and Tete Morente have joined, while Juan Cruz and Oscar Gil have moved on.

Almiron has little time to find his strongest lineup, however, with this a fixture the visitors should be targeting a point from.

Elche were 1-0 winners on their most recent visit to Eibar in February 2015 - Jonathan de Jesus scoring the only goal of the game that day.

Eibar La Liga form: DLL

Elche La Liga form: L

Team News

Jose Luis Mendilibar may be tempted to tweak formation slightly on the back of successive defeats in an attempt to get Quique in the side alongside Kike.

Kadzior will be hoping to retain his place in the side for his second start since joining, as will Takashi Inui on the opposite flank.

Rober Correa started the defeat against Athletic Bilbao, but Alvaro Tejero has been tipped to get the nod at right-back on Wednesday.

As for the visitors, Cifu is their only confirmed absentee, so Josan should continue to operate at right wing-back.

Up top, Lucas Boye is battling with Nino for a starting spot through the middle.

Eibar possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; Tejero, Olviera, Bigas, Rodrigues; Leon, Exposito, Alvarez, Inui; Gonzalez, Kike

Elche possible starting lineup:

Badia; Verdu, Calvo, Josema; Josan, Luismi, Guti, Fidel; Morente, Nino, Milla

We say: Eibar 1-0 Elche

Eibar need to get points on the board following a disappointing start to their campaign, and this fixture presents them with a great chance to do exactly that.

Elche were beaten heavily in their first game back at this level and will need to quickly learn lessons if they are to climb off the foot of the division, but we are going with a home win on Wednesday.

Top betting tip

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