Leganes will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to six matches when they continue their La Liga campaign with a contest against Rayo Vallecano on Friday night.
The hosts, who are 16th in the La Liga table, drew 0-0 with Athletic Bilbao last time out, while seventh-placed Rayo will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 home success over Girona.
Match preview
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Leganes have had a very successful start to 2025, winning three and drawing two of their five matches in all competitions, with two victories in the Copa del Rey seeing them advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Borja Jimenez's side have also drawn with Espanyol and Athletic in the league this year, while they recorded a famous 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on January 18, which ended the capital outfit's longest winning run in their entire history.
Despite their recent upturn, El Lega remain in trouble towards the bottom of the division, sitting in 16th spot, boasting a record of five wins, eight draws and eight defeats from 21 matches to collect 23 points, just three points clear of the relegation zone.
Leganes are the reigning Segunda Division champions, and they are in their first top-flight campaign since 2019-20, so any spot over 18th would be considered an extremely successful season.
El Lega have not tackled Rayo at home in La Liga since October 2018, when they recorded a 1-0 victory, but it was 1-1 when the two teams locked horns for the reverse fixture earlier this term.
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Rayo, meanwhile, are having an impressive campaign, boasting a record of seven wins, eight draws and six defeats from 21 matches, with a total of 29 points leaving them in seventh position in the table.
Inigo Perez's side are only one point behind sixth-placed Mallorca in the race for Europe, and they will enter this match off the back of a 2-1 home success over Girona, which stretched their unbeaten run in La Liga to seven matches.
Los Franjirrojos have not been beaten in La Liga since the start of December, winning three and drawing four of their seven matches since then, while their last league defeat away from home was at the end of November.
Rayo were beaten 3-1 by Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey in the middle of January, so they now only have the league to focus on for the remainder of the campaign, and it would be some story if a European finish could be secured.
Perez's team have picked up 14 points from their 11 away league matches during the 2024-25 campaign, and they will be coming up against a Leganes outfit that have 13 points from their 10 home fixtures in La Liga this term.
Team News
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Leganes will be without the services of both Renato Tapia and Enric Franquesa due to injury problems, while Diego Garcia remains a doubt, but the home side have no fresh injury issues.
Due to the manner of the performance against Athletic last time out, it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field here, with Dani Raba potentially featuring through the middle.
A 5-4-1 formation saw Adria Alti and Juan Cruz operate in the wing-back positions last time out, while Miguel de la Fuente featured out wide, and he could again be present in that area of the field on Friday night.
As for Rayo, Raul de Tomas and Jonathan Montiel are both unavailable for selection, but the visitors are otherwise in strong shape, with no problems being reported following their home success over Girona.
Randy Nteka scored a brace off the bench in the team's last match, and he now has to be considered for a start, with the number 11 potentially getting the nod over Sergio Camello in the final third of the field.
Adri Embarba and Jorge de Frutos are likely to continue in the wide areas, with Isi Palazon featuring as the number 10.
Leganes possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Alti, Rosier, Gonzalez, Nastasic, Cruz; De la Fuente, Cisse, Neyou, Brasanac; Raba
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarria; Ciss, U Lopez; De Frutos, Palazon, Embarba; Nteka
We say: Leganes 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
Both of these sides are in good form, and it is shaping up to be a fascinating match on Friday night; these are the type of games that Rayo must win in order to be viewed as European contenders, but we are expecting Leganes to be good enough to avoid a defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
