Real Betis slipped to 14th as they were beaten by local rivals Sevilla, and it goes without saying they will attempt to make amends by defeating Malaga on Friday.

Los Boquerones head into the game in much better mood having finally recorded the first win of the new campaign, defeating Eibar 2-1.

New Real Betis coach Gustavo Poyet has seen quite a few senior players leave in the summer, while most summer recruits have yet to prove their worth.

In came Aissa Mandi, Jonas Martin, Riza Durmisi, Felipe Gutierrez, Roman Zozulya, Manu Herrera, Darko Brasanac and Ryan Donk, while talented forward Alex Alegria returned from loan at Numancia.

Together with Ruben Castro, the 23-year-old has impressed in the opening exchanges, as they scored 6 goals between them, but the back line has not been as good.

Real Betis conceded no fewer than 11 goals in the first five La Liga fixtures, so no wonder they currently sit just few positions above the relegation zone.

Determined to patch up the leaky defence, Gus Poyet adopted a negative approach in the local derby against Sevilla, with his side ending up losing 1-0.

The Uruguayan coach faces a genuine selection headache ahead of the Malaga game, with Ruben Castro, Aissa Mandi, Jonas Martin, Antonio Sanabria, Riza Durmisi and Crisiano Piccini all expected to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Adan – Donk, Gonzalez, Pezzela, Musonda – Brasanac, Petros – Joaquin, Gutierrez, Ceballos – Alex Alegria.

Malaga have been on a major downtrend of late and it appears to be only a matter of time before they get involved in the relegation tussle.

Despite the fact that the club managed to make some decent signings, los Boquerones enjoyed a pretty disappointing start to the new season.

Back to back draws against Osasuna and Espanyol were followed by defeats to Villarreal and Las Palmas, meaning the team were under pressure ahead of the midweek clash with Eibar.

The hosts were in problems when Nano scored the opener for Las Palmas, but summer recruit Sandro Ramirez and talented forward Youssef El Nesyri came to the rescue, securing a 2-1 triumph.

The win came at a cost as defender Juan Carlos suffered a knee injury and he is now certain to miss the Real Betis game.

Fellow defender Welligton is also out with a knee problem, but there are no other worries for coach Juande Ramos at the moment.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Kameni – Rosales, Kone, Llorente, Torres – Anor, Camacho, Kuzmanovic, Castro – Sandro, Charles.