La Liga's basement side Elche will be bidding to record their first victory of the campaign when they welcome Mallorca to Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero on Monday night.
The hosts have only collected one point from their opening seven games to sit bottom of the division, while Mallorca currently sit in 12th position, boasting eight points from their first seven matches.
Match preview
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Elche are in their third straight campaign at this level of football, finishing 17th and 13th in the last two seasons, but the early indications are that it could be a very tough 2022-23 for the club.
Indeed, Los Franjiverdes have only managed to pick up a single point from their first seven matches, drawing once and suffering six defeats, conceding 18 times in the process.
Elche have also only scored three times in the league this season, and while it is not quite panic stations due to the amount of football left to play, their form is certainly concerning at this stage.
The strugglers announced earlier this month that Francisco had been sacked as head coach due to the poor start to the campaign, and the club are yet to appoint a replacement.
Elche have lost each of their last five matches, including a 2-1 reverse to Rayo Vallecano on October 3, and they have another five games to come before the end of the month, facing Mallorca, Valencia, Real Madrid, Espanyol and Getafe before opening November away to Real Valladolid.
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Mallorca, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona on October 1; the hosts gave a strong account of themselves but were beaten by a first-half Robert Lewandowski effort.
Javier Aguirre's side are currently in 12th position in the table on eight points, boasting a record of two wins, two draws and three defeats from their seven matches.
Mallorca have only scored six times in the league this season but have been impressive down the other end, conceding just eight, which is just one more than the champions Real Madrid.
Los Piratas finished 16th in Spain's top flight last season after winning promotion from the Segunda Division in 2020-21, and they are bidding to make it three straight campaigns at this level for the first time since 2013.
Mallorca suffered a 3-0 defeat to Elche in the corresponding match last season, while they have not overcome their opponents on Monday in the league since May 2017.
Team News
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Elche will again be without the services of Gonzalo Verdu through suspension, while Omar Mascarell and Javier Pastore remain on the sidelines through injury.
There will be changes from the side that started the defeat to Rayo last time out, with Tete Morente potentially coming into a forward area, while Pere Milla is also pushing to be included in the XI.
Elche played a 3-5-2 formation last time out and that is again expected to be the case here, with Raul Guti retaining his spot in the middle of midfield.
As for Mallorca, Dominik Greif remains unavailable for selection due to a hip problem, while a muscular problem will also rule Tino Kadawere out of the contest.
The majority of the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Barcelona should retain their starting roles due to the nature of the performance.
Lee Kang-in should again be tasked with supporting Vedat Muriqi in the final third of the field, but there could be a change in the back three, with Matija Nastasic pushing to come into the side.
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Palacios, Fernandez, Gonzalez; Lirola, Milla, Guti, Gumbau, Clerc; Marti, Morente
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Nastasic, Raillo, Valjent; Maffeo, Baba, Sanchez, Galarreta, Costa; Kang-in, Muriqi
We say: Elche 0-1 Mallorca
Elche's losing run will end at some point, but we are expecting them to be beaten again here.
Mallorca do not concede many, but they have only scored six league goals this term, so we are tipping a narrow away success on Monday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
