Getafe will be aiming to record back-to-back victories in La Liga for the first time this season when they welcome basement team Huesca to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Wednesday evening.
The hosts overcame Elche 3-1 last time out, whereas Huesca suffered their third defeat on the bounce with a 2-0 home loss to Real Betis.
Match preview
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Following on from a dismal Copa del Rey exit to Cordoba - their third loss in as many matches - Getafe were desperate to get back on track when they travelled to a relegation-threatened Elche outfit last Monday.
Jose Bordalas's team did just that with a 3-1 win at the home of the strugglers, with Marc Cucurella, Jaime Mata and Angel Rodriguez all finding the back of the net to propel Getafe to just their fifth top-flight win of the campaign.
Despite managing to create some much-needed breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone with that win, only four points separate 13th-placed Getafe from the dotted line in a tightly-packed bottom half, although they do have a game in hand over most of the teams around them.
While the visit of Huesca represents a prime opportunity for Getafe to move further away from the bottom three, they have not won a La Liga fixture on home soil since October 17 - their memorable 1-0 triumph over Barcelona - and can boast just three goals from their last six matches on familiar territory.
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In contrast, Huesca are enduring the worst losing run out of any team in the top division, and their prospects of survival are looking slimmer by the week.
The visitors remain rooted to the bottom of the table after being swept aside on their own turf by 10-man Real Betis, who eased to a 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Aissa Mandi and Antonio Sanabria in the second 45.
Michel oversaw a four-game losing run across all competitions before being replaced by Pacheta, and six points separate Huesca from safety after 18 matches, and a Copa del Rey defeat to Alcoyano on January 7 means that Los Oscenses have made the worst start possible to 2021.
Furthermore, their solitary La Liga victory this season came on home soil over Deportivo Alaves, and failure to overcome Getafe this week would stretch Huesca's winless away run in the league to 10 matches.
This week's visitors have not triumphed in any game with Getafe since 1997, with Bordalas's side taking the spoils in a 2-1 win when these sides last met in the 2018-19 campaign, and Pacheta is facing an uphill battle to kick off his Huesca reign in ideal fashion.
Getafe La Liga form: LWDLLW
Getafe form (all competitions): WDLLLW
Huesca La Liga form: WLDLLL
Huesca form (all competitions): LDLLLL
Team News
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Getafe are expected to be without Enes Unal for at least another month as he recovers from a hamstring tear, while Atletico Madrid loanee Victor Mollejo remains out with an ankle problem.
Cucho Hernandez is injured but continues to serve a suspension anyway, while Nemanja Maksimovic should be fine to start after playing an hour against Elche despite a recently sprained ankle.
Highly-rated youngster Takefusa Kubo - on loan from Real Madrid - made his debut off the bench against Elche and will be eyeing his first start here.
Meanwhile, Huesca are without COVID-positive duo Juan Carlos and Andres Fernandez, but Pablo Maffeo has an outside chance of returning in time for this game.
Former Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki could potentially come in up top following reports claiming that Sandro Ramirez might miss out with a calf strain.
The participation of midfielder Pedro Mosquera is also in doubt due to muscular discomfort in his thigh, with Idrissa Doumbia and Jaime Seoane both on standby.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Yanez; Suarez, Djene, Cabaco, Olivera; Kubo, Maksimovic, Arambarri, Cucurella; Alena; Mata
Huesca possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Lopez, Insua, Siovas, Galan; Garcia, Doumbia, Gomez, Ontiveros; Okazaki, Mir
We say: Getafe 2-0 Huesca
Huesca will have to start preparing for life in the second tier if results do not pick up under Pacheta, and they are unlikely to give their survival prospects any sort of boost here. Getafe's recent form has left a lot to be desired, but having finally returned to winning ways over Elche, we can only see the hosts registering another victory over the league's basement side.
Top betting tip
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 Huesca win with a probability of 41.51%. A draw had a probability of 29.5% and a win for Getafe had a probability of 28.99%.
The most likely scoreline for a Huesca win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.4%) and 1-2 (7.87%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.3%), while for a Getafe win it was 1-0 (11.25%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.3% likelihood.
