Mallorca will be looking to bounce back from defeat earlier in the week with a victory, when they welcome a resurgent Getafe side to the Iberostar Stadium for their La Liga clash on Saturday evening.
The hosts are unbeaten in each of their last three league games on home soil, while the visitors are yet to win on the road so far this season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Mallorca extended their winless run to six matches when they suffered a 3-1 defeat away against high-flying Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
The Pirates are still searching for their first victory since October 2, but having claimed four points from four draws in matches prior to their most recent defeat, they are sitting four points above the relegation zone in 13th place.
Luis Garcia's side have relied heavily on their home form to accumulate points so far this season; 10 of their 15 points have been claimed at the Iberostar Stadium, losing only one of their seven matches on home soil.
However, Mallorca have lost each of their last four matches against Getafe on their own turf, conceding a total of nine goals in the process, so Saturday's contest could be challenging for the Pirates, especially with the visitors experiencing an upturn in form.
© Reuters
After claiming just two points from their opening 10 La Liga matches, Getafe have since accumulated seven points from a possible 12 available which has moved them off the foot of the table.
The Azulones secured their second successive home victory last weekend when they cruised to a 4-0 triumph against Cadiz, thanks to goals from Mathias Olivera, Jorge Cuenca, Enes Unal and Jaime Mata.
Quique Sanchez Flores's men remain in the relegation zone but they are only two points behind 17th-placed Granada, who are hovering above the bottom three by goal difference.
Getafe head into Saturday's clash with a poor record away from home which they will be looking to change against Mallorca. Including results from last season, the Azulones are winless in each of their last 10 away games in the top-flight, failing to score on eight occasions in the process.
However, they have won their last three matches against Mallorca at the Iberostar Stadium, including a slender 1-0 victory in March 2020, so they can be confident of securing three points this weekend, which would see them climb out of the drop zone for the first time since the opening day of the season.
- L
- D
- D
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Mallorca trio Lago Junior, Antonio Raillo and Matthew Hoppe are all sidelined with injuries, while Takefusa Kubo and Salva Sevilla will be assessed ahead of kickoff to see if they have recovered from respective knee and muscle problems.
Ever-present centre-back Martin Valjent, who has started all 14 league matches this term, is expected to play alongside Franco Russo, joining full-backs Pablo Maffeo and Brian Olivan in the back four.
Fer Nino and Angel Rodriguez have been battling with each other for a place up front and with the latter having begun on the bench last time out, he could replace the former in the starting lineup on Saturday.
As for Getafe, Sabit Abdulai and Jakub Jankto remain unavailable for selection as they continue to recover from respective knee and ankle injuries, while Nemanja Maksimovic is doubtful with a knock.
Flores switched to a 3-4-3 formation for the victory against Cadiz last weekend and he may decide to stick with this system on Saturday, with Cuenca, Stefan Mitrovic and Djene Dakonam set to start again in the back three.
Enes Unal, who has scored four of Getafe's last seven goals in La Liga, is expected to keep his place in attack alongside Sandro Ramirez, though Mata and Dario Poveda will also be pushing to start.
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Reina; Maffeo, Valjent, Russo, Olivan; Galarreta, Baba; Kang-In, Sanchez, D. Rodriguez; A. Rodriguez
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Mitrovic, Djene, Cuenca; Suarez, Maksimovic, Arambarri, Alena, Olivera; Sandro, Unal
We say: Mallorca 1-1 Getafe
Getafe's recent revival will see them head into Saturday's game in a more positive mood than Mallorca, though the hosts will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways against their relegation-threatened opponents.
A closely-fought contest is set to be played out at the Iberostar Stadium, which may see the two sides forced to share the spoils.
Top tip
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 Mallorca win with a probability of 45.69%. A draw had a probability of 30.2% and a win for Getafe had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Mallorca win was 1-0 with a probability of 16.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.9%) and 2-1 (7.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (13.95%), while for a Getafe win it was 0-1 (10.85%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 14% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
