Basement side Alaves will continue their battle to stay in La Liga on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Rayo Vallecano to Estadio de Mendizorroza.
The home side are currently bottom of the division, seven points from the safety of 17th position, while Rayo occupy 13th spot, six points clear of the relegation zone heading into the next set of fixtures.
Match preview
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Alaves still have more than enough time to escape the relegation zone in Spain's top flight, but there is no getting away from the fact that their recent form has been concerning.
Indeed, the Basque outfit have lost each of their last four in the league against Real Sociedad, Granada, Atletico Madrid and Osasuna, which has left them bottom of the division on 22 points, seven points behind 17th-placed Mallorca on the same number of matches (31).
Alaves have not actually been victorious in the league since the middle of February, and it is wins rather than draws that will help them escape the bottom three, if that is to be the case over the next month or so.
The strugglers sacked Jose Luis Mendilibar as head coach earlier this month, with Julio Velazquez now in charge of the first team, and the 40-year-old's first match at the helm was the 1-0 loss to Osasuna on April 10.
El Glorioso have a huge game away to Mallorca on April 19, while they will finish the month with a home fixture against Villarreal; the club are facing relegation to the second tier for the first time since 2016, though, and need to put together a strong run to stop that fear becoming a reality.
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Rayo, meanwhile, were promoted back to this level through the Segunda Division playoffs last season, so consolidating in the top flight once again was always going to be their number one priority.
A record of nine wins, seven draws and 14 defeats from 30 matches has brought them 34 points, which is enough for 13th spot in the table, but they are only six points ahead of 18th-placed Cadiz, meaning that their spot in the top flight for next season is far from secure.
Rayo's form in the first half of the campaign put them as potential challengers for a European finish, but they have not actually won in La Liga since the middle of December and lost five straight league matches between January 23 and February 26.
There has been an improvement in recent weeks, though, with the capital outfit drawing three of their last four matches, including their last two against Granada and Valencia.
Andoni Iraola's side, who have back-to-back away games against Espanyol and Barcelona after this one, beat Alaves 2-0 in the reverse match earlier this season, while they also won 1-0 when the pair last locked horns at Estadio de Mendizorroza in January 2019.
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Team News
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Alaves will again be missing Pere Pons and Javi Lopez on Saturday afternoon through injury, but the home side do not have any other fresh concerns heading into the contest.
Head coach Velazquez is expected to select close to the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Osasuna last time out, although there could now be a start for on-loan Manchester United attacker Facundo Pellistri.
Joselu is again set to lead the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation, while Luis Rioja and Edgar Mendez should continue in the wide positions for the relegation strugglers.
As for Rayo, Radamel Falcao, Martin Merquelanz and Esteban Saveljich will again miss the contest through injury.
However, the away side will be boosted by the return of Santi Comesana following a suspension, and the Spaniard is expected to be back in the starting team in the middle of the park.
Rayo put in a positive performance against Valencia last time out, so it would not be a surprise to see almost the same XI take to the field, with Isi Palazon, Alvaro Garcia and Oscar Trejo supporting Sergi Guardiola in attack.
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Tenaglia, Laguardia, Lejeune, Navarro; Escalante, Loum; E Mendez, Pellistri, Rioja; Joselu
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Balliu, Maras, Catena, Rodrigues; Valentin, Comesana; Palazon, Trejo, A Garcia; Guardiola
We say: Alaves 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
Rayo have shared the points in three of their last four La Liga matches, and we are backing another draw in this game. Alaves were close to claiming a point against Osasuna last time out, and we believe that the home team will have enough to avoid defeat on Saturday afternoon.
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 Rayo Vallecano win with a probability of 40.95%. A win for Alaves had a probability of 30.66% and a draw had a probability of 28.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rayo Vallecano win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.18%) and 0-2 (7.93%). The likeliest Alaves win was 1-0 (10.65%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.19%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood.
