Eibar Vs Elche
Eibar Vs Elche Wednesday 30 September 2020 – 20:30 (GMT)
Spanish La Liga
Pick: Elche or Draw
Odds: 27/25
Bookmaker: 888Sport
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 28 September 2020)
Preview: One of four matches being played on Wednesday in Spain’s La Liga pits two teams still searching for their first win of the season, as newly-promoted Elche make their way to Eibar and the Ipurua Municipal Stadium for a match-up both sides will view as winnable.
Spanish La Liga Betting at 22Bet
Table of Contents
Eibar Preview – First league win proving elusive?
A reasonably strong finish to their 2019/20 La Liga campaign, coming home six points clear of the bottom three after a run of only three defeats in their final ten fixtures (W4 D3 L3), meant a sixth straight season without relegation for a club which hadn’t even made a single appearance in Spain’s top division prior to 2014. Unfortunately, a very poor start to the new term could undermine survival efforts for the season ahead.
It is early days, and there remains ample time and fixtures to turn it around, but one point from three league games is not the start manager Jose Luis Mendilibar would have been envisaging. After opening with a dour home draw with Celta Vigo, who were the better side, Eibar would then suffer back-to-back 2-1 defeats, the first of those coming away at Villarreal before losing to Athletic Bilbao on their own patch.
Eibar are again at home for this midweek clash, only three days after they were rather unfortunate to have lost a low-key affair last time out (xG: EIB 0.75 – 0.6 BIL). That just a second loss at their Ipurua Stadium since football in the country was allowed to resume in June (W2 D2 L2), while in 2019/20 Los Armeros found the back of the opponent’s net in 13 of 19 such matches.
Elche Preview – La Liga newcomers should learn from Sociedad schooling?
Due to the unfortunate nature of the fixture compiler, which dealt them early encounters with Barcelona and Sevilla, teams who were given extended pre-seasons to account for their later involvements in European competition during the summer, Elche have had to bide their time before sampling their first taste of La Liga for six years. The long wait wasn’t worthwhile.
Los Franjiverdes were resoundingly beaten on their first league run out of the season, as they struggled to match the quality on show from Real Sociedad, who are established top-ten club at this level and would hold reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid to a goalless draw on their first appearance of the campaign. The defeat, then, was not all that surprising, nor could they have any qualms about the scoreline.
The Elche goal was peppered at the weekend (xG: ELC 1.12 – 3.45 SOC). However they could have made the contest more respectable had they converted their two big chances. This lack of a clinical edge needs to improve, and preferably soon. Wednesday’s opponents Eibar may have started poorly themselves but have come away from two of their opening three matches having allowed less than 1xGA.
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Eibar Vs Elche Betting Advice
It hasn’t been the desired start to the season from either, which suddenly raises the significance of gaining a result on Wednesday. Eibar, being the more established side at this level, are understandably favourites but do have only one point from their first three contests, and only two wins from their previous six La Liga games at home (W2 D2 L2). Therefore, odds-on quotes about the hosts seem too short.
Eibar Vs Elche – Key Facts
- Two defeats at home in their last six La Liga home games for Eibar (W2 D2 L2), who were beaten 2-1 at their Ipurua Stadium by Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
- Elche, beaten 3-0 at home by Real Sociedad on Saturday, wrapped up their 2019/20 Segunda Division league campaign by winning only one of their final five away matches (W1 D1 L3).
- The 2014/15 season remains the only time these clubs have competed in La Liga together. The away sides on the day both winning without conceding.
In last season’s Segunda Division, Elche secured promotion via the play-offs without any clear preference for where they played, picking up three fewer points away from home and banking as many away wins (8) as they did back home. A long season fending off relegation seems inevitable. This fixture, though, will be viewed as winnable, and there won’t be many of those. Ultimately, I suspect neither will be happy. 1-1 Draw.
Best Betting Odds – Eibar Vs Elche
Eibar – 3/4 (Bet365)
Draw – 13/5 (Betfair)
Elche – 18/5 (Unibet)
