Mallorca will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run of form to four matches in Spain's top flight when they welcome Elche to Visit Mallorca Stadium on Sunday evening.
The home side are currently 12th in the table, having picked up 14 points from their opening 12 La Liga matches, while Elche sit 16th with 10 points to show from their first 12 games of 2021-22.
Match preview
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Mallorca earned a return to La Liga by finishing second in the Segunda Division last season, and they will be aiming to secure back-to-back campaigns at this level of football for the first time since 2013.
Los Piratas have made an encouraging start to the season, winning three, drawing five and losing four of their 12 matches to collect 14 points, which has left them in 12th position in the table.
Mallorca have only actually lost one of their last five in the league, which came at leaders Real Sociedad in the middle of October, although their last three against Valencia, Sevilla and Cadiz have all finished level.
Luis Garcia's side have not had too many issues finding the back of the net this season, scoring 11 times in their 12 matches, but they have the joint-fourth worst defensive record, having conceded 17 goals thus far.
Mallorca are preparing to face Elche for the first time in Spain's top flight since March 1970, when the two teams played out a goalless draw.
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The pair might have not locked horns at the top level for more than 50 years, but they met during the 2018-19 Segunda Division season, with both fixtures finishing 1-1.
Elche finished 17th on their return to La Liga last term, and the early indications are that it will be another tough battle for Los Franjiverdes to secure their status at this level for another season.
Indeed, a record of two wins, four draws and six defeats from 12 matches has seen them collect 10 points, which is only enough for 16th spot in the table, just one point outside of the relegation zone.
Fran Escriba's side have only picked up one point from their last four league games, meanwhile, losing their last two against Alaves and Real Madrid.
Elche gave a strong account of themselves against Los Blancos last weekend, though, with Carlo Ancelotti's side only running out 2-1 winners at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero courtesy of a double from Vinicius Junior.
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Team News
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Mallorca will again be without the services of Takefusa Kubo and Antonio Raillo due to knee and ankle injuries respectively, while Aleksandar Sedlar will miss out through suspension, having picked up a red card in the 1-1 draw with Cadiz last weekend.
Pablo Maffeo has overcome a knock, though, and should keep his spot at right-back, while 34-year-old Angel is again expected to lead the line for the hosts.
Head coach Garcia could decide to make a couple of changes, though, with Antonio Sanchez and Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta pushing to be included in the first XI.
As for Elche, Pablo Piatti is again expected to be unavailable due to a knee problem, while Raul Guti is suspended, having been sent off in the loss to Real Madrid last weekend.
Escriba will have been pleased with what he saw for long stages against Los Blancos, so it is expected to be a very similar XI for this weekend's contest.
Javier Pastore should again support Lucas Boye from the number 10 position, while Guti's spot in the middle of the park could be awarded to former Barcelona youngster Gerard Gumbau.
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Reina; Maffeo, Valjent, Russo, Olivan; Galarreta, Baba; Kang-In, Sanchez, Rodriguez; Angel
Elche possible starting lineup:
Casilla; Palacios, Bigas, Roco, Mojica; Gumbau, Mascarell; Perez, Pastore, Fidel; Boye
We say: Mallorca 2-2 Elche
This has all the makings of an entertaining contest, and we are expecting goals on Sunday, as both teams have talent in the final third. Elche will be keen to halt a two-game losing run, and we believe that the visitors will have enough to hold Mallorca to a draw at Visit Mallorca Stadium.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Mallorca win with a probability of 53.32%. A draw had a probability of 27.7% and a win for Elche had a probability of 19.02%.
The most likely scoreline for a Mallorca win was 1-0 with a probability of 17.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.86%) and 2-1 (8.39%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (12.27%), while for a Elche win it was 0-1 (8.68%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 3% likelihood.
