After facing some upheaval this season due to stadium and crowd trouble issues, Rayo Vallecano will seek to maintain their unbeaten ‘home’ record when they host relegation contenders Elche.
Match News and Current Form
Vallecano again failed to break into the top half of the table when, for the fourth time already this season, they were unable to convert a match-opening goal into a victory (D2, L2). It has been a frustrating drop in form for last season’s eighth-place finishers, who rounded out last term with a seven-game unbeaten league run (W4, D3) before starting this campaign off with just two wins in eight (D3, L3). Now back at Vallecas Stadium after the Community of Madrid lifted its injunction earlier this month on the stadium due to its poor condition, the on-field slide only adds to the mounting frustrations of the home fans, some of whom won’t be able to attend this match after their disruptive protest in the abandoned game against Athletic Club forced the closure of the south stand for this contest.
Scoreless draws against the mid-table pairing of Celta Vigo (0-0 home) and Villarreal (0-0 away) have left Elche in the relegation zone for another week, despite them having lost only to Real Madrid in their last five outings (W1, D3). It’s the third time this century Elche collected fewer than nine points after nine rounds of a top-flight campaign, which is not an ideal place to be in given the other two led to relegation. No club had earned a higher percentage of their La Liga points on the road heading into this round than Elche (6 of 7), so they should be confident of at least adding to their tally having drawn in trips to three clubs ranked higher than Vallecano after the last round.
Head-to-Head History
Seven consecutive La Liga H2Hs have been won by the home side on the day, with Vallecano’s 1-0 win last season one of only two that saw under 2.5 goals.
Hot Stats and Streaks
Vallecano's last nine matches saw both teams score.
Six of Vallecano’s last eight competitive wins were by a one-goal margin.
Elche conceded 3+ goals in all four losses this league season.
The half-time result was replicated at full-time in each of Elche’s last eight league matches.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Vallecano’s Sergio Camello has already scored seven goals within the first hour of a league match this season and will look to again open the scoring for his team, as he did in his first start against Elche. Elche’s most recent league goal came from Germán Valera, who scored after half-time in their win over Vallecano last season.
Vallecano have doubts over the fitness of Randy Nteka and Andrei Rațiu, while Marc Aguado is seemingly Elche’s only major absentee.
For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.
Betting Analysis
With 100% of Vallecano’s games and 67% of Elche’s seeing both teams score this La Liga season, we anticipate the same outcome in this game.
Author: Aaron Murphy