Real Betis will be bidding to bounce back from successive defeats when they welcome Cadiz to Estadio Benito Villamarin in La Liga on Sunday evening.
The home side are currently 10th in the table, picking up seven points from their first five matches of the season, while Cadiz are eighth, also on seven points from their opening five games of 2023-24.
Match preview
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Real Betis have found it difficult to get going in the early stages of this season, and they will enter this match off the back of a run of three losses from their last four matches in all competitions.
Manuel Pellegrini's side have won two, drawn one and lost two of their five league games this term to collect seven points, which has left them in 10th position in the table.
The team's only win since the opening weekend of the campaign was at home to Rayo Vallecano before the international break, and they suffered a 5-0 defeat to Barcelona in La Liga last time out before going down 1-0 away to Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Abdallah Sima's 67th-minute effort proved to be the difference between the two sides in the Group C encounter, and there is certainly pressure on Real Betis to deliver a positive result on Sunday evening.
The Green and Whites only took one point from their two league games against Cadiz last season, though, and they suffered a 2-0 defeat in the corresponding match in Seville.
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Cadiz will be well-rested ahead of this match, as Sergio Gonzalez's side have not been in action since suffering a 3-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the league last Saturday.
The Andalusian side started their 2023-24 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Alaves before suffering a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in their second match of the season.
Cadiz then picked up four points from their next two games, drawing with Almeria before beating Villarreal, but they found it difficult to compete with a strong Athletic last time out.
El Submarino Amarillo are in their fourth straight campaign at this level of football, which is their best run since the early 1990s, but they have been 17th and 14th in their last two seasons.
Cadiz are expected to be one of a number of teams involved in a relegation battle this term, but a solid start to the campaign has left them up in eighth position heading into the next set of fixtures.
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Team News
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Real Betis have four players unavailable for selection, with Rui Silva, Youssouf Sabaly, William Carvalho and Nabil Fekir currently on the sidelines through injury.
Claudio Bravo played between the sticks against Rangers and that is again expected to be the case in this match despite the presence of Fran Vieites, but there will be changes from the European encounter.
Indeed, Ayoze Perez, Willian Jose and Juan Miranda should return to the side, while Rodri will be another player in Pellegrini's thinking when it comes to potential changes.
As for Cadiz, Victor Chust, Fede San Emeterio, Sergi Guardiola, Juan Cala and Brian Ocampo are currently on the sidelines due to fitness issues.
Head coach Sergio is expected to make at least a couple of alterations to the side that started against Athletic last time out, with Darwin Machis and Alex Fernandez likely to come into the side.
There are unlikely to be wholesale changes, though, meaning that Chris Ramos and Roger should continue in attack despite pressure from Alvaro Negredo and Maxi Gomez.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Bellerin, Bartra, Pezzella, Miranda; Roca, Rodriguez; Henrique, Isco, Perez; Willian Jose
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, L Hernandez, Fali, J Hernandez; Alejo, Alex, Escalante, Machis; Roger, Ramos
We say: Real Betis 2-1 Cadiz
Real Betis are due a big result, as it has been a difficult week for the club. Cadiz are more than capable of picking up a positive result on Sunday, but we just have a feeling that Pellegrini's side will navigate their way to an important three points in this contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
