Espanyol vs Deportivo La Coruna preview

January 4, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

La Liga campaign resumes on Friday after a three-week break, with high-flying Espanyol playing host to relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna.

Los Periquitos have enjoyed a very good first part of the season, climbing to the top half of the standings, and they currently hold a ten-point advantage over the bottom three.

Espanyol were absolutely brilliant in October and November, having embarked on an 11-match unbeaten run that came to an end with a 4-1 loss to local rivals Barcelona.

Los Periquitos have since been eliminated from Copa del Rey, losing to Alcorcon after penalties, so this will be their opportunity to return to the right track.

The good news is that Espanyol are unbeaten in last five league fixtures at Cornella de Llobregat (W2 D3) and they even managed to keep three clean sheets in the process.

Victor Sanchez should be able to play despite the minor muscle injury, but Papa Diop is unavailable as he is set to represent Senegal at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Leo Baptistao, Diego Lopez and Javi Lopez have all stepped up their efforts to recover from injury, but they are unlikely to recover in time.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Jimenez – Victor Sanchez, David Lopez, Reyes, Martin – Piatti, Fuego, Jurado, Reyes – Caicedo, Moreno.

Deportivo La Coruna narrowly escaped the drop last season, and it appears they are in for yet another difficult relegation tussle.

The Riazor outfit had been pretty disappointing in the opening exchanges, but they managed to turn things around just before the winter break.

Depor won two of last three La Liga fixtures to escape the danger zone and they are now four points clear of the bottom three.

They cannot afford to relax just yet, but the situation is much better than it was back in November, so the players definitely have reason for optimism.

After eliminating Real Betis from Copa del Rey, La Coruna did well to come from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw against Alaves, but they will have to show improvement against Espanyol.

Brazilian midfielder Guilherme could start after impressing in midweek, but Laure and Carles Gil are out injured and Faycal Fajr is away on international duty.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Tyton – Juanfran, Albentosa, Sidnei, Navarro – Guilherme, Borges – Gama, Colak, Moreno – Joselu.

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