Real Betis will be looking to continue their impressive run of form in La Liga when they travel to relegation-threatened Elche on Sunday afternoon.
The Seville outfit have won five of their last six in the league to rise into sixth position in the table, while Eibar currently occupy 17th spot, two points clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Elche could be in the relegation zone by the time that they take to the field for this match, with the bottom three - Huesca, Alaves and Eibar - all in action before them in the next round of fixtures.
As it stands, though, Fran Escriba's side are 17th in Spain's top flight, two points clear of 18th-placed Eibar and just four clear of basement side Huesca as the battle to escape the drop zone resumes.
Elche recorded an impressive 2-1 home win over Sevilla at the start of March, but they have picked up just one point from their last three matches against Real Madrid, Sevilla and Getafe to drop down the table.
Los Franjiverdes are bidding to make it back-to-back seasons at this level of football for the first time since 2013-14 and 2014-15, but they are very much in the relegation mix at this stage of the campaign.
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Betis, meanwhile, currently sit sixth in the table, two points clear of seventh-placed Villarreal and level on points with fifth-placed Real Sociedad, all on the same number of matches.
The top four looks to be beyond Manuel Pellegrini's side this season, but there is no question that fifth or sixth would be seen as a successful campaign for the club, who finished down in 15th spot last term.
Los Verdiblancos saw a four-game winning run in La Liga come to an end on March 14 as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sevilla, who are in charge of fourth position in the table.
Betis bounced back from the derby loss on March 19, though, as goals from Nabil Fekir and Juanmi saw them record a 2-0 victory over Levante at Estadio Benito Villamarin.
The Green and Whites have won six of their 14 away league matches this season, while they recorded a 3-1 victory when they faced Elche in the reverse match back in November.
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Team News
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Elche are expected to be boosted by the return of Antonio Barragan from injury this weekend, but Lucas Boye is suspended due to the booking that he picked up against Getafe last time out.
Boye's spot in the final third could be taken by Guido Carrillo, while Barragan is expected to return to the team at right-back, with Helibelton Palacios dropping to the bench.
Tete Morente, Raul Guti and Ivan Marcone should all keep their spots, though, meaning that Pablo Piatti might have to accept a position on the bench once again.
As for Betis, Victor Camarasa and Dani Martin remain on the sidelines through injury, but Pellegrini's side did not pick up any fresh problems over the international break.
There might only be one change to the side that started against Levante, with Aitor Ruibal potentially coming in for Diego Lainez, who could drop down to the bench.
William Carvalho, Juanmi and Joaquin are all pushing for starts, but Borja Iglesias should again lead the attack with support from Sergio Canales and Fekir, while Guido Rodriguez will line up in midfield.
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Barragan, Calvo, Verdu, Mojica; Morente, Marcone, Guti, Fidel; Carrillo, Milla
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Emerson, Mandi, Ruiz, Moreno; Guardado, Rodriguez; Ruibal, Canales, Fekir; Iglesias
We say: Elche 1-2 Real Betis
Aside from the defeat at Sevilla, Betis have been flying in the league, and we are finding it difficult to predict anything other than an away victory in this match. Elche will not make it easy as they battle for their lives towards the bottom, but Betis should have enough to secure another three points.
Top tip
Matt Law
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 Real Betis win with a probability of 53.93%. A draw had a probability of 24.3% and a win for Elche had a probability of 21.74%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Betis win was 0-1 with a probability of 12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.01%) and 1-2 (9.65%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.56%), while for a Elche win it was 1-0 (6.93%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood.
