Two mid-table sides will go head-to-head when Alaves welcome Getafe to Mendizorroza for Saturday's La Liga contest.
The Basque side head into the weekend in 11th place in the standings, while the visitors are just one point better off in 10th position.
Match preview
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After winning promotion from the second tier last season, Alaves have collected 42 points from 36 matches to steer clear of a relegation battle.
Rather than looking down, the Basque side have their eyes set on 10th spot as they attempt to achieve a top-half La Liga finish for the first time since 2016-17.
Alaves will creep into the top 10 with a win over Getafe, but if they are to claim all three points, they will have to pick themselves up from a heavy 5-0 defeat in Tuesday's clash with newly-crowned champions Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Having fallen to their fourth defeat in five away matches, Alaves will be looking forward to returning to the home comforts of Mendizorroza, where they have lost just one of their previous seven matches.
After drawing seven and lost two of their last nine meetings with Getafe, the hosts will hope that home advantage can be the difference-maker as they bid to claim their first head-to-head win since April 2018.
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Like their hosts, Getafe experienced a disappointing midweek result as they fell to a 3-0 home defeat against Atletico Madrid following an Antoine Griezmann hat-trick.
The Azulones have now lost three consecutive matches without troubling the scorers, leaving them low on confidence ahead of their first trip to Mendizorroza since they played out a 1-1 draw in December 2021.
Despite experiencing a poor spell of results, Getafe sitting in 10th place with the chance to secure their first top-half finish since 2019.
Jose Bordalas's side will now turn their focus to their final away game of the season, where they will attempt to complete a league double over Alaves after recording a narrow 1-0 win in August 2023.
However, Getafe have struggled to pick up wins on the road, having won two, drawn eight and lost eight of their 18 La Liga away matches this season.
Team News
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Getafe are still without their top scorer Borja Mayoral, who is working on his recovery from a knee injury that he sustained in March.
Mauro Arambarri is also out with a knee injury, while Domingos Duarte and Juan Iglesias are nursing shoulder problems.
After being ruled out of the midweek defeat to Atletico, Djene has been passed fit and should feature in central defence alongside Omar Alderete.
Bordalas could be tempted to make a few more changes, with Yellu Santiago, Jaime Mata and Juanmi Latasa all in contention to start.
The visitors have reported no fresh injury concerns, but Garcia is still without long-term absentee Aleksandar Sedlar.
After rotating his side in midweek, the Alavas boss is likely to recall Nahuel Tenaglia, Javi Lopez, Carlos Vicente, Jon Guridi, Carlos Benavidez, Giuliano Simeone and Kike Garcia.
Having started the last two matches, goalkeeper Jesus Owono is expected to retain his place in between the posts.
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Soria; Carmona, Djene, Alderete, Rico; Santiago, Maksimovic, Milla; Greenwood, Mata, Latasa
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Owono; Gorosabel, Tenaglia, Marin, Lopez; Benavidez, Guevara; Vicente, Guridi, Simeone; Garcia
We say: Alaves 1-1 Getafe
With just one point separating the two sides, we expect Saturday's game to produce a close-fought contest, and we think that the two sides will play out a draw, especially as six of their last seven head-to-head meetings have finished all square.
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