Espanyol kept their Champions League hopes alive by bringing one point from San Mames and Mauricio Pochettino’s side can now finally climb to fourth place in La Liga with a win over bottom-placed Zaragoza. Los Manos sit no less than 11 points adrift of safety and everything suggests they will be relegated to Segunda.

Smells like team spirit

Once considered a boring mid table side, Espanyol are now one of the favourites for Champions League places and that speaks volumes about Mauricio Pochettino’s work at Cornella El Prat. The Argentine coach opted against signing any real stars as he wanted to create a homogenous unit first and foremost, and team’s latest results prove that he has succeeded. After missing out on the European places because of the poor finish of last season, Espanyol have proved their worth this term by climbing to the fifth place in the standings, leaving sides like Sevilla, Malaga, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao trailing in their wake. Following the six-match unbeaten run in La Liga, los Periquitos traveled to San Mames to face high-flying Athletic Bilbao and they once again proved their credentials by playing out an entertaining 3-3 draw with high-flying los Leones. New signing Philippe Coutinho started the game in Bilbao and hinted he would be a great asset for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, whereas Kalu Uche was also handed a debut. Being high on confidence and facing arguably the weakest side in La Liga, Espanyol should have no problems winning this game.

Juan Albin, Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Vazquez remain sidelined, but Rui Fonte should be fit to feature.

Mission impossible for Real Zaragoza

Real Zaragoza were not even seen as one of the candidates for the drop before the season started, but the team started the season in terrible fashion and have been unable to recover ever since. Los Manos did stay without central midfield pairing of Ander Herrera and Gabi, as well as striker Ikechukwu Uche, but new signings were expected to compensate for the departure of key players. That hasn’t happened and while the coaches and players continued to change, the results remained utterly disappointing, leaving the team deep in the relegation zone. The lack of confidence is clearly preventing Zaragoza players from giving their best and after losing 13 of last 17 games in all competitions, los Manos don’t look capable of stopping in-form Espanyol from winning this game.

Javier Paredes is set to start after his fifth yellow card was rescinded, but striker Aranda is a major doubt with a groin injury.

Verdict

Espanyol are playing great football at the moment and after the impressive display at San Mames, they are expected to beat Real Zaragoza at their Cornella El Prat. Los Manos seem to have come to terms with relegation to Segunda and they look set for yet another defeat.

Our prediction: Espanyol with -0.75 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.83 (5/6)

Bookmaker: 188BET