Fresh from securing their first La Liga victory of the 2024-25 campaign, Las Palmas will continue their season with a home fixture against Champions League outfit Girona on Saturday evening.
Las Palmas won a five-goal thriller against Valencia last time out to move off the bottom of the La Liga table, while Girona have had their problems this season, with the Catalan outfit currently down in 12th spot.
Match preview
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Las Palmas were rock bottom of La Liga entering their clash with Valencia on Monday night, picking up just three points from their opening nine games of the season, but they managed to record a huge win over their fellow strugglers.
Valencia took the lead in the 14th minute of the contest, but Las Palmas then scored three times without reply and survived a late scare to triumph 3-2, with the result moving them off the bottom of the division and into 19th.
There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough start for Pio Pio, but the success over Valencia could be a springboard, with new head coach Diego Martinez triumphing in his first game at the helm.
Martinez, who was last in charge of Olympiacos, was appointed the new manager of Las Palmas earlier this month, with Luis Carrion sacked due to the team's issues in the opening weeks of the campaign.
Los Amarillos finished 16th in La Liga last season to secure another campaign at this level, and they will now be bidding to win their final league game of the month before turning their attention to the Copa del Rey.
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Girona made history on Tuesday evening, as they won their first-ever game in the Champions League, beating Slovan Bratislava 2-0 on home soil, with that result following defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Feyenoord in the competition.
The Catalan side famously finished third in La Liga last season, which proved to be their best-ever spot in Spain's top flight and secured qualification for the league phase of the 2024-25 Champions League.
However, Girona's league form has suffered in the early stages of the campaign, picking up only 12 points from their 10 matches courtesy of a record of three wins, three draws and four defeats, which has left them down in 12th spot.
Michel's team will take a lot of confidence from their European success, though, and they have picked up four points from their last three away league games, including a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo in their last domestic fixture on their travels.
Girona did the double over Las Palmas last season, winning 1-0 at home and 2-0 away, while they have not been beaten by Saturday's opponents since April 2015, which is an indication of the size of the home team's task here.
Team News
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Las Palmas will need to make a late check on Viti Rozada, who picked up an injury against Valencia last time out, but there is a hope that the Spaniard will be able to shake off the problem in time.
Marvin Park remains unavailable for selection due to a hamstring issue, but Sandro Ramirez is in the latter stages of his recovery from a muscular problem and may yet make the squad this weekend.
New head coach Martinez could name the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Valencia, including on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Fabio Silva, who was on the scoresheet last time out.
Girona, meanwhile, have a whole host of injury problems, with Jhon Solis, Portu, Viktor Tsygankov, Daley Blind, Oriol Romeu, Jastin Garcia, Ricard Artero and Ivan Martin definitely unavailable for selection.
Donny van de Beek, Pau Lopez and Bryan Gil are also doubts, so head coach Michel will have to be inventive when it comes to his starting side on Saturday evening.
Cristhian Stuani is actually Girona's leading goalscorer in Spain's top flight this season with three, and the 38-year-old is expected to be given the nod in the final third, while 19-year-old Gabriel Misehouy could start in midfield.
Las Palmas possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Rozada, A Suarez, McKenna, Munoz; Essugo, Campana; Januzaj, K Rodriguez, Moleiro; Silva
Girona possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Frances, D Lopez, Krejci; A Martinez, Misehouy, Herrera, Gutierrez; Danjuma, Stuani, Miovski
We say: Las Palmas 1-1 Girona
Las Palmas will be the fresher of the two sides and can take plenty of confidence from their success last time out, but Girona are a quality outfit, and despite their injury problems, we are expecting the Catalan team to be good enough for a point here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
