Espanyol will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in La Liga when they continue their 2021-22 campaign at home to Cadiz on Monday night.
The Catalan outfit recorded a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid before the international break, while Cadiz played out a goalless draw with Valencia in their last game earlier this month.
Match preview
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Espanyol have won two, drawn three and lost three of their opening eight matches of the season to collect nine points, which has left them in a respectable 13th position in the table heading into the next set of fixtures.
The White and Blues were relegated from La Liga at the end of 2019-20 but secured an immediate return by winning last season's Segunda Division, and they will be desperate to avoid a relegation battle this term.
Vicente Moreno's side have only actually lost one of their last four in the league and have won two of their last three, including a 2-1 success over Real Madrid before the international break.
Espanyol scored through Raul de Tomas and Aleix Vidal to move into a 2-0 lead against Real Madrid and managed to hold on for all three points despite Karim Benzema halving the deficit in the 71st minute.
The Catalan outfit have faced Cadiz on 28 previous occasions, recording 12 wins in the process, but this will be the first contest between the two teams in Spain's top flight since March 2006, when Cadiz recorded a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Abraham Paz and Jonathan Sesma.
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Cadiz, meanwhile, excelled on their return to the top flight last season, claiming 12th, meaning that they are playing in back-to-back campaigns at this level for the first time since the early 1990s.
The Yellow Submarine have won one, drawn four and lost three of their opening eight matches of the new La Liga season to collect seven points, which has left them in 15th position in the table.
Cadiz's only victory of the season thus far came away at Celta Vigo on September 17, but they have only lost one of their last four and held Barcelona to a goalless draw towards the end of last month.
Alvaro Cervera's side entered the international break off the back of a goalless draw with Valencia, meanwhile, and will now be looking to continue an impressive run of form on the road, which has seen them lose just two of their last eight away league games, dating back to last season.
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Team News
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Javier Puado is Espanyol's only confirmed absentee at this stage, but the home side are sweating on the fitness of Vidal, Miguel Llambrich, Fernando Calero and Yangel Herrera ahead of the contest.
If Vidal is able to prove his fitness then there is every chance that the team could be unchanged from the one that took to the field for the first whistle against Real Madrid.
De Tomas is certain to lead the line with support from Adri Embarba, while Keidi Bare is expected to operate in a defensive midfield position for the home side.
As for Cadiz, Jon Ander Garrido will miss out due to a tendon problem, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape heading into the contest.
Head coach Alvaro could also name an unchanged side from the clash with Valencia before the international break; Milutin Osmajic was handed his first start of the season against Los Che and should retain his spot alongside Alvaro Negredo in the final third of the field.
Salvi Sanchez and Alex Fernandez are set to retain their spots out wide, while Varazdat Haroyan should feature in the middle of the defence alongside Fali Jimenez.
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Diego Lopez; Gil, Gomez, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Bare; Vidal, Melendo, Darder, Embarba; De Tomas
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Iza, Haroyan, Fali, Espino; Sanchez, Jonsson, Alarcon, Fernandez; Negredo, Osmajic
We say: Espanyol 2-1 Cadiz
Espanyol were impressive against Real Madrid before the international break, and we are backing Moreno's side to win again here. Cadiz have shared the points in half of their eight league matches this season but could suffer their fourth defeat of the campaign at RCDE Stadium.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Espanyol win with a probability of 45.75%. A win for Cadiz had a probability of 27.66% and a draw had a probability of 26.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Espanyol win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.98%) and 2-0 (8.59%). The likeliest Cadiz win was 0-1 (8.84%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.59%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Espanyol would win this match.
