Football – Spain – La Liga
Monday 6th April 2015 – Kickoff: 2000hrs
Easter Monday concludes this weekend’s action in the Spanish La Liga when hosts Espanyol take on Elche in a bottom half clash at the Power8 Stadium.
Espanyol endured another frustrating 90 minutes of football when they drew 0-0 away at Deportivo La Coruna prior to the break, which was on the back of a hard-fought point at home against Atletico Madrid (in another 0-0 draw).
But this means that Espanyol have lost just twice in their last thirteen home matches, and with an overall record of 7-4-3 19/11 under their belts going into tonight’s encounter, they look to have the edge over tonight’s visitors, particularly with seven clean sheets to their name. The attacking trio of Stuani, Garcia and Caicedo are the best bets for anytime goalscorers for Espanyol tonight.
Visitors Elche have fared somewhat worse than tonight’s counterparts as they’ve suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Sevilla and Valencia, while the manner of their defeats will be an additional blow with 3-0 and 4-0 losses respectively as their defence was given a thorough examination – a test which they comprehensively failed.
Elche have won just once in their last five matches overall which was a 1-0 home win over fellow strugglers Almeria, but their away form has yielded mixed results in recent weeks; wins at Athletic Bilbao and Eibar will give them hope, along with a point at Deportivo. However, defeats at Granada and Sevilla prove their inconsistencies are just around the corner where away matches are concerned!
Their overall away record stands at a disappointing 3-3-7 11/25 and they’ve failed to score on six occasions on their travels so far this season in La Liga.
Espanyol should have enough to take the points here in what could perhaps be another low-scoring affair, but the hosts should edge this 1-0.
Pick: Espanyol straight win @ 1.73 Coral
