Malaga will be looking to reassert themselves amongst the upper-echelons of La Liga when they face their toughest test yet as Real Madrid come to visit.
The high-spending Andalucian outfit suffered a significant setback to their lofty ambitions with a 3-0 defeat at high-flying Levante last week, while Madrid are back to their rampant best with back-to-back four-goal hauls against Real Betis last weekend and then Lyonin the Champions League.
Malaga's hopes of ending Levante's unbeaten start were virtually over after half-an-hour with goalkeeper Willy Caballero seeing red before the hosts made it 2-0.
While Sky Bet make them 13/2 to cause an upset, Malaga will certainly have the inside info on their visitors with former Bernabeu boss Manuel Pellegrini backed up by Bernabeu legend Fernando Hierro in the general manager role.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is also in line to face his former club, while another ex-Madrid man Julio Baptista is ruled out with a foot problem.
Malaga will be looking to avenge a 7-0 defeat in their last meeting, but their much-changed side can take encouragement from the knowledge that a victory would see them move level with Real Madrid on 16 points.
Jose Mourinho's men are not the only ones looking to subdue supposed challengers from Andalucia, with Barcelona facing a Sevilla side yet to taste defeat this season.
Los Rojiblancos will, however, be without their star striker Alvaro Negredo and winger Diego Perotti, as they attempt to beat Barca for the first time under Pep Guardiola, having endured a 5-0 hammering last time they visited the Nou Camp.
Barca, who are also unbeaten this term, have the added boost of Cesc Fabregas returning from a hamstring injury but will be without Gerard Pique, Alexis Sanchez and Ibrahim Afellay.
Elsewhere on Saturday, injury-hit Racing Santander could be forced to persist with a string of youth players when they go in search of their first victory of the season against Espanyol.
In the other game, basement boys Sporting Gijon have their best chance of securing a first win of the season when Granada, who are only one win better off in their first season in the top-flight, come to town.
The pick of Sunday's six games will see Villarreal look to be the side to end Levante's stunning start and bounce back from their Champions League heartache.
The Yellow Submarines saw a 1-0 lead turn in to a defeat as Sergio Aguero struck a last-gasp winner for Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
That 2-1 loss means Juan Carlos Garrido's men have only won twice in all competitions, once in the league and once in the Champions League qualifying stage, leaving them in an area of the table second-place Levante would be expected to occupy.
In contrast, Levante have only dropped four points to date and conceding just three goals in the process, the least in the league.
Garrido will know this is the sort of game which could really get his side going again or, with a trip to Real Madrid to proceed, leave them looking down at very few in the La Liga.
No comments:
Post a Comment