Girona will be bidding to continue their excellent start to the 2023-24 La Liga campaign when they welcome Mallorca to Estadi Montilivi on Saturday afternoon.
The home side have picked up 13 points from their opening five matches of the season to sit third in the table, just two points behind leaders Real Madrid, while Mallorca occupy 15th spot with five points from as many games this term.
Match preview
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Girona finished 10th in La Liga last season, which was also the case in 2017-18, and they are currently in just their fourth campaign at this level of football, which makes their start even more remarkable.
The White and Reds opened their season with a 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad before putting four straight victories on the board, overcoming Getafe, Sevilla, Las Palmas and Granada to move onto 13 points, which has left them just two points off the summit.
There will be tougher tests to come, namely against Villarreal and Real Madrid in their two after this one, but there is no question that they have been one of the best sides in the division so far this term.
Michel's side were three goals ahead away to Granada inside the opening 34 minutes last time out before the home side scored twice to make it 3-2, but Yan Couto scored a fourth for Girona in the 89th minute.
The Catalan outfit took four points off Mallorca in their two meetings during the 2022-23 La Liga campaign, meanwhile, which included a 2-1 victory in the corresponding match.
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Mallorca, meanwhile, only picked up two points from their opening four matches of the new season, with one of those coming on the opening weekend against Las Palmas.
Javier Aguirre's side then lost back-to-back matches to Villarreal and Granada, before claiming their second draw of the season at home to Athletic Bilbao before the international break.
Mallorca managed to post their first victory of the season on Saturday, with Vedat Muriqi coming up with the only goal of the contest with Celta Vigo in the 85th minute, and the result moved the Pirates into 15th spot in the table.
Aguirre's team finished ninth in La Liga last term, which proved to be their highest final position at this level of football since the 2011-12 campaign.
Mallorca will again have their eyes on a top-half finish despite their underwhelming start, and a positive result on Saturday would lead them nicely into their home match with an in-form Barcelona next week.
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Team News
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Girona have a relatively lengthy injury list at the moment, with Arnau Martinez, Borja Garcia, Joel Roca, Ricard Arteto and Toni Villa all currently available for selection.
Head coach Michel is likely to select the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Granada last time out, with Savio and Viktor Tsygankov operating in the wide areas.
There is currently a battle between Artem Dovbyk and Cristhian Stuani for the starting role at centre-forward, and the former is expected to keep hold of his position in the side on Saturday.
Mallorca will be missing two players through injury this weekend, with Omar Mascarell unavailable for selection due to a muscular issue, while Antonio Raillo has an ankle complaint.
The team did not pick up any fresh problems against Celta last time out, though, and due to the manner of the performance and result, it would not be a surprise to see the same XI feature from the start here.
Jaume Costa and Cyle Larin are perhaps the two players pushing hardest to break into the starting side, but Toni Lato should retain his spot at left-back, while Muriqi is a certain starter in the final third of the field.
Girona possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Couto, E Garcia, Blind, Gutierrez; Tsygankov, Martin, D Lopez, A Garcia, Savio; Dovbyk
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Maffeo, Valjent, Nastasic, Van der Heyden, Lato; D Rodriguez, Morlanes, Costa, Darder; Muriqi
We say: Girona 1-1 Mallorca
Girona have been excellent this season and will fancy their chances of picking up another three points on Saturday afternoon. Mallorca have been impressive in their last two games, though, including an away victory last time out, and we can see the points being shared in this contest.
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Top tip
Matt Law
