Rayo Vallecano-Almeria is a match from the 20th day of La Liga and is played on Monday at 21:00: odds, predictions, TV and streaming.
In the postponement of the 20th day of La Liga, Rayo Vallecano, the great surprise of this tournament, can take advantage of the unexpected defeats of Betis and Villarreal, fallen respectively with Celta Vigo and Elche, to climb three positions and rise to fifth place, just three points behind Atletico Madrid and the Champions League zone.
Andoni Iraola’s team will, however, have to return to a positive result in front of their own public, where they have not won since the historic derby success against Real Madrid last November. Two defeats came in Vallecas in 2023, the first against Betis and the second against Real Sociedad. Away from home the music is completely different: after the draw in Girona, Rayo have always found the three points away from their own stadium: they beat Real Valladolid 1-0 and two weeks later they repeated, always with the same result, at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Vila-real, surprising the Yellow Submarine with a Sergio Camello goal in the second half. Iraola is enjoying the moment but must watch out for slumps: last year the Matagigantes risked ruining what they had done in the first part of the championship.
Almeria have yet to win away from home
In the capital city Almeria are on the scene, another team that is surprising and, as a newly-promoted team, have already won a decent 22 points.
Suarez and Robertone
Rubi’s Andalusians are coming off a convincing win over Espanyol, which has allowed them to move +3 from the relegation zone. The gap to third-last place, however, is still small and none of the teams at the bottom of the table – including Valencia and Sevilla – can feel 100% comfortable. Almeria, meanwhile, have only lost one game in the five they have played since the season resumed, and on 15 January they were able to stop Atletico Madrid on a draw. The only blemish is their disastrous away performance: along with Elche, they are the only side not to have won away from home.
The prediction
The first leg was in the hands of Almeria, who got the better of Rayo 3-1. Very contrasting results also in the last preceding games, played in the Segunda. The feeling is that this will be a very open match, between two healthy teams in which it is difficult to identify a clear favourite. In light of Almeria’s away performance, we believe the Madrid outfit can get at least a point but are unlikely to keep their goals unbeaten The visitors have scored in five of their last six matches.
Rayo Vallecano-Almeria’s likely line-up
- RAYO VALLECANO (4-3-3): Dimitrievski; García, Catena, Lejeune, Balliu; López, Comesaña, Trejo; Martín, Palazón, Camello.
- ALMERIA (4-3-3): Fernando; Akieme, Babic, Rodrigo Ely, Mendes; Robertone, De la Hoz, Melero; Embarba, Baptistao, Suárez.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
