Mallorca will look to put crucial distance between themselves and the bottom three places in the La Liga table on Sunday, when they make the trip to Espanyol.

Since they both won promotion to the top flight last term, the hosts have fared better than their opponents, although they have dropped into the bottom half as a result of a difficult run of their own.

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Espanyol enjoyed a particularly strong first half to the season upon their return to La Liga, establishing themselves in the top half, but Vicente Moreno's side have since had to battle through a tough run of form.

A run of seven games without a victory after the turn of the year saw the Periquitos quickly drop down the table, as they conceded 18 goals and only collected three points before finally returning to winning ways recently.

Moreno's men recorded an important 2-0 victory at home to Getafe thanks to Leandro Cabrera's early finish and an Erick Cabaco own goal, but they were unable to build on that with another triumph last time out, as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw away at basement side Levante.

Dani Gomez pegged them back with an 80th-minute equaliser, seeing the Periquitos remain 12th in the Spanish top flight as a result.

While they are not overly threatened by the drop, with a nine-point lead over the bottom three, Espanyol will still be keen for a victory to ensure they do not slip further down a crowded bottom half in the final 10 games of the season.

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They welcome a Mallorca side who are far more embroiled in the relegation scrap, with the visitors just two points above the drop zone due to a poor patch of form.

Los Piratas looked to have given their survival hopes a major boost in February, recording back-to-back league wins over Cadiz and Athletic Bilbao, but they have since had to endure a run of five straight defeats.

After losses to Real Betis, Valencia and Real Sociedad and a 4-3 defeat to Celta Vigo, in which they were only beaten in the 97th minute, Luis Garcia Plaza's side met league leaders Real Madrid last time out, and despite being level at the break, they were eventually handed a 3-0 beating as Vinicius Junior opened the scoring and Karim Benzema hit a brace.

While they will at least be relieved by the three sides below them also suffering defeats last time out, Los Piratas now sit just two points above 18th-placed Cadiz and will be desperate to stop the rot to put crucial distance between themselves and the drop zone.

Team News

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Espanyol will likely be without goalkeeper David Lopez, who was forced off in the draw with Levante due to an injury.

Key forward Raul de Tomas netted 13 goals in his first 22 appearances of the La Liga season, but he will hope to break a four-game drought at the weekend.

Further back, Sergi Darder, Keidi Bare and Yangel Herrera should continue to form an established midfield trio.

Mallorca are expected to remain without Dominik Greif and Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta due to injuries.

Veteran goalkeeper Manolo Reina will return to contention after serving a suspension, but he is set to sit on the bench, having not been on the pitch when he was shown the red card.

Vedat Muriqi has started in each of Los Piratas' seven La Liga games since his loan arrival in January, and, with two league goals to his name, the Kosovo international should keep his place at the top end of the pitch.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Garcia; Gil, Calero, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Darder, Bare, Herrera; Puado, De Tomas, Vilhena

Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rico; Maffeo, Valjent, Raillo, Olivan; Rodriguez, Baba, Sanchez, Kubo; Muriqi, Angel

We say: Espanyol 2-1 Mallorca

The visitors find themselves in a dismal run of form, and, despite the Periquito's own recent struggles, we still expect the hosts to come out on top given the quality they have in their ranks.

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