Athletic Club - Las Palmas
The round 23 of this season will start with a battle between two teams underperforming I would say. Athletic had an unbeaten run of 10 matches, but didn’t impress with just three wins. Las Palmas on the other side is struggling in the bottom of the table with relegation, but did get a huge win late in the game against Málaga at Monday after a goal from Alen Halilovic.
In this game Athletic will still miss Iker Muniain and Mikel Balenziaga as the most important ones, but the players out will also be Mikel Vesga, Xabi Etxeita, Sabin Merino and Kike Sola. This could potentially be the return for Kepa Arrizabagala and the home-debut for Iñigo Martínez.
Las Palmas will in this game be without right-back David Simón, but luckily for Las Palmas, Michel Machedo was finally back in the last game against Málaga. The others out will be David Garcia, Vicente Gómez, Javi Castellano, Momo and the new-signings Emmanuel Emenike and Peter Etebo.
I will have Athletic as clear favourites in this game even though they haven’t impressed. Las Palmas is not looking any better and will place in a difficult place to come. I really expect more from Athletic, and this game will be the big opportunity. If Athletic isn’t starting to look better very soon, this could be the last game for Kuko Ziganda.
Villarreal - Alavés
A game between two teams in pretty good form. Villarreal have won four out of their last five games they have recently played, and will be playing an opponent that even though they have lost some games in the last weeks, have improved a lot in my opinion after Abelardo came in.
Villarreal had their match against Betis last weekend destroyed with a early red card from Daniele Bonera, and Lorén had a dream-debut for Betis. Alavés won 2-1 against Celta Vigo in a pretty comfortable win at home with Iago Aspas just scoring a consolation goal at the end of the game.
In this game Villarreal will be without Bonera and Rodrigo Hernández due to suspension, and Bruno Soriano, Rubén Semedo and Nicola Sansone with injury. The visitors will be without Carlos Vigaray, Christian Santos, Burgui and Alvaro Medrán.
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A pretty tough game to predict with the two sides in good form, but Villarreal have been very good the last few weeks and also have three wins at home in a row after beating Real Sociedad the last time they played at home. Maybe a Villarreal-win in this game.
Málaga - Atlético Madrid
Another match and another loss. How can Málaga turn this season around after another loss in their most important game of the season against Las Palmas? In this match they will be facing an opponent with a big boost after winning against Valencia last weekend while Real Madrid and Barcelona dropped points. Nine points behind Barcelona and nine in front of Valencia. Can Los Colchoneros start to dream a little bit again?
Atlético will without a doubt go into this match as clear favorites, but will be missing Diego Godin and Stefan Savić against an opponent missing Miguel Torres, Kuzmanović, Juankar, Juanpi, Success, Bastón and Peñaranda, but will finally have Diego Rolán back from injury!
I can’t see many goals coming in this game due to Atlético’s defense, and how Málaga have looked after José González took over as a coach.
Leganés - Eibar
The fairytale came to and end, but another fairytale is coming. Eibar. Leganés will probably have some tired legs in this game, but will for sure give the opponent, Eibar a good match in a very even games as it looks like. Sevilla did as expected and knocked Leganés out of the Copa del Rey semi-final, killing Leganes’ hopes about a dream final against Barcelona. Eibar on the other side smashed Sevilla last weekend 5-1, and will be small favorites here considering the amount of games Leganés have played the previous weekends, and the good form Eibar have right now.
Leganés will still miss Mauro Dos Santos and Szymanowski in this game, but will also now miss Jose Zaldúa due to suspension.
Real Madrid - Real Sociedad
The final game Saturday will between a Real Madrid-team with focus on Wednesday against PSG, and Real Sociedad coming from a 5-0-win last weekend against Deportivo. Real Madrid failed yet again against Levante last weekend just earning a draw after Giampalo Pazzini scored the equalizer right before full time.
A big blow for the visitors into this game is that Willian Jose has got an injury and will miss this game against his former club. Adnan Januzaj will also be out due to injury together with Carlos Martínez. Real Madrid will still be without Jesus Vallejo and Dani Ceballos, and they will also be the only ones missing.
Even though they struggle every weekend, it’s hard to not see Real Madrid winning at home against Real Sociedad without Willian Jose. The most important game for Real Madrid will without a doubt be against Paris Saint Germain this week, but I am pretty sure Real Madrid will win this too (?).
//Steemitfootball