Two newly-promoted teams will lock horns in Spain's top flight on Sunday afternoon as Huesca prepare to welcome Cadiz.
Huesca started their 2020-21 La Liga campaign with an impressive point at Villarreal last weekend, while Cadiz lost 2-0 at home to Osasuna on their return to this level of football.
Match preview
Huesca earned promotion back to La Liga for the 2020-21 campaign courtesy of winning last season's Segunda Division, finishing one point clear of second-place Cadiz at the summit.
The fact that Huesca lost 14 of their 42 league matches and still won the division is a surprise, but they do have previous in Spain's top flight, competing at this level in 2018-19, ultimately finishing 19th.
It could be another difficult campaign for the club, but Michel's side picked up an impressive result on the opening weekend of the season, drawing 1-1 with Villarreal.
Azulgranas will know that they will likely have to beat the teams expected to be around them if they are to stay in the division this term, and it is set to be a fascinating battle against Cadiz on Sunday afternoon.
© Reuters
Cadiz, meanwhile, suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Osasuna last weekend, with Adrian Lopez and Ruben Garcia on the scoresheet for the visitors at Estadio Ramon de Carranza.
The Yellow Submarine were regulars in La Liga between 1981 and 1993 but have largely been a second-tier or third-tier side since, only playing one campaign of top-flight football since the 1992-93 season.
Alvaro Cervera's side, as mentioned, finished second behind Huesca in the Segunda Division last term, but they picked up four points from their two matches against them.
This will be the first meeting between the two teams at this level of football, but Cadiz have plenty of players with experience of La Liga, namely Alvaro Negredo, who joined on a free transfer this summer.
Huesca La Liga form: D
Cadiz La Liga form: L
Team News
© Reuters
Huesca will again be without the services of Pedro Lopez through injury, but the home side do not have any other concerns from their excellent draw against Villarreal last weekend.
Pablo Maffeo scored a debut goal against the Yellow Submarine and should retain his spot, while Rafa Mir and David Ferreiro should keep their spots in wide areas.
Former Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki should again lead the line for the home team.
As for Cadiz, Luismi Quezada and Jon Ander remain on the sidelines through injury, but Alberto Perea is back from suspension and should return to the front three for the visitors.
Negredo is again likely to lead the line on what will be his second appearance for the club, but fellow new arrival Jorge Pombo could drop to the bench, allowing Perea to come into the selection.
Huesca possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Maffeo, Pulido, Insua, Galan; Mosquera, Rico; Ferreiro, Carlos, Mir; Okazaki
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Gil; Carcelen, Lopez, Cala, Espino; Mari, Gonzalez; Perea, Bodiger, Salvi; Negredo
We say: Huesca 1-1 Cadiz
The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the corresponding game in the Segunda Division last season, and we fancy the same result to occur this weekend. Cadiz will be keen to avoid successive defeats on their return to this level, and we are expecting a low-scoring draw to occur on Sunday afternoon.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:dataData 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 Huesca win with a probability of 51.1%. A draw had a probability of 26.5% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 22.38%.
The most likely scoreline for a Huesca win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.37%) and 2-1 (9.05%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.33%), while for a Cadiz win it was 0-1 (8.4%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood.
