Both Granada and Mallorca will be looking to secure their first wins of the 2023-24 La Liga campaign when they lock horns at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on Saturday evening.
Granada have lost their opening two games of the season to sit bottom of the table, while Mallorca are 15th, having picked up just one point from their first two matches of the campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Granada won the 2022-23 Segunda Division to secure a return to this level of football, finishing top of the pile with 75 points, but they did actually lose 11 of their 42 league matches last season.
Paco Lopez's side are yet to get off the mark in terms of the new campaign, having lost 3-1 at Atletico Madrid in their opener on August 14 before being beaten 2-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
Not too much can be read into the league table at this stage of the season, but Granada are currently at the bottom, and they face a tough trip to Real Sociedad next weekend ahead of the international break, which strengthens their need to pick up a positive result here.
The Andalusian side have signed six players this summer to boost their squad, with Shon Weissman the biggest of those in terms of a fee, with the 27-year-old joining the club after a loan spell.
Granada have actually won their last four league games against Mallorca, including a 4-1 victory in the corresponding match during the 2021-22 La Liga campaign.
© Reuters
The two meetings between these two sides in 2021-22 were highly entertaining, as Granada also thumped Mallorca 6-2 in Palma, but this contest is unlikely to be a high-scoring affair.
Mallorca drew 1-1 with Las Palmas in their opening match of the season on August 12 before suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to Villarreal last time out, with Gerard Moreno deciding the game in the 62nd minute.
Javier Aguirre's side sit 15th in the table on one point, but they will still be confident of enjoying a similar campaign to last term, when they finished an impressive ninth in the top flight.
The Pirates have signed seven new players this summer, including Sergi Darder and Cyle Larin, while Lee Kang-in has been their major exit, making the switch to Paris Saint-Germain.
Mallorca only won four of their 19 away league matches last season, so their form on the road is an area clearly in need of improvement during the 2023-24 campaign.
- L
- L
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Granada will be without the services of Antonio Puertas on Saturday, with the Spaniard sent off in the latter stages of the clash with Rayo Vallecano last time out.
Weissman remains a major doubt for the home side, while Raul Torrente is out of action due to a muscular issue, with the defender potentially unavailable until after the international break.
There is every chance that head coach Lopez will select the same XI for this match, with Jose Callejon and Myrto Uzuni set to be joined by Bryan Zaragoza in the final third of the field.
Mallorca, meanwhile, have not reported any injury problems for this match, so head coach Aguirre could have a full squad to choose from this weekend.
There could be a change in the final third from the team that started against Villarreal, with Larin potentially being introduced to operate alongside Vedat Muriqi.
Darder is also expected to come into the side on Saturday, with Dani Rodriguez and Amath Ndiaye likely to be the two players to drop down to the bench for the clash with Granada.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Ferreira; Sanchez, Rubio, Miquel, Neva; Gumbau, Ruiz, Melendo; Callejon, Uzuni, Zaragoza
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Valjent, Raillo, Copete; Maffeo, Darder, Mascarell, Morlanes, Costa; Muriqi, Larin
We say: Granada 1-1 Mallorca
As mentioned, both matches during the 2021-22 campaign were high-scoring affairs, but we are expecting this to be a tighter contest. Cases can be made for both teams to win it, but we have a feeling that the two sides will ultimately share the spoils at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
