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Getafe and Almeria will square off in the second round of the Spanish La Liga, with the two sides likely to be involved in the relegation struggle later in the season.
Getafe hired Romanian manager Cosmin Contra in the second part of last season and they managed to narrowly escape relegation, but things are not looking good at all this year. Getafe has a relatively poor squad and has no money, they did not bring in quality players (aside of keeper Guaita whom I rate highly) and even lost top striker Ciprian Marica, who preffered to play for Karabukspor in Turkey for a bigger contract than what Getafe could offer him. Today`s hosts played poorly football in friendlies and confirmed the low expectations in the first La Liga round, losing 3-1 to Celta Vigo.
Almeria got a 1-1 draw with Espanyol last week at home, but it was actually a very good performance from them. Almeria was all over Espanyol in that match, had a lot of chances, held over 60% possession and ended up being equialized in the dying seconds of the game. I said earlier that Almeria will probably struggle to avoid relegation and indeed they should (on paper), but if they can build on that performance in the first round they might end up finishing mid-table. Generally Almeria is not exactly the kind of side that plays beautiful football, they usually go for the low scoring draw, but against Espanyol they were very dangerous up front.
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Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Team news & lineups
Getafe has huge problems with injuries as both regular center backs (Alexis, Rafa) are unavailable. Key man Pedro Leon is also highly doubtful and probably won’t play. Almeria has no issues aside of Thievy, who is questionable.
Getafe: Guaita – Valera, Vigaray, Perez, Lago – Castro, Rodriguez – Lafita, Sammir, Sarabia – Vasquez
Almeria: Pulido – Macedo, Trujillo, Santos, Dubarbier – Thomas, Verza – Mendez, Soriano, Zongo – Hemed
I initially fancied a draw in this match but considering Getafe’s poor quality combined with their defensive problems and the fact Almeria played very well in the first round, I can actually see an away win happening. Getafe is just not good enough right now and they have a lot of problems. The visitors should be able to create some chances against an improvised Getafe defense, while the hosts do not hold too much offensive power and they could well go scoreless. I just can`t see Getafe winning this, they played very poor football in the first round and home court advantage can only help you until one point. Almeria is the better team in terms of quality here, they created many goal scoring chances against Espanyol, they proved they can play, so my tip is Almeria to win with +0 asian handicap (money back in case of the draw). Great value in the odds (Pinnacle delivers the goods as always) and I`d say a safe pick as well, considering a draw won’t lose us the bet. Prediction: Getafe – Almeria 0-1.
Pick: Almeria (+0 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.89 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 13.23
Event date: 29 August
