Title-challenging Girona will be bidding to make it back-to-back wins in La Liga for the first time in over a month when they travel to Copa del Rey finalists Mallorca on Sunday evening.
Girona are currently second in the table, six points behind the leaders Real Madrid, while Mallorca occupy 16th position, six points ahead of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Mallorca will enter this contest off the back of a huge result in the Copa del Rey, having beaten Real Sociedad on penalties on Tuesday evening to secure their spot in the final of the competition.
Javier Aguirre's side will tackle Athletic Bilbao for the trophy at the start of April, but the team's immediate focus must be on La Liga, as a difficult campaign to date has left them down in 16th position in the table.
The Pirates, who finished ninth in Spain's top flight last season, have only picked up 24 points from their 26 league matches in 2023-24, which has left them 16th, just six points outside of the relegation zone.
Aguirre's team have only managed to win four times in La Liga this term, but they have collected four points from their last three games at this level of football, beating Rayo Vallecano and drawing with Alaves either side of a 2-1 home defeat to Real Sociedad.
Mallorca beat Girona 3-2 in the Copa del Rey towards the end of January, but they suffered a 5-3 defeat to the Catalan side when the two teams last locked horns in La Liga back in September.
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Girona picked up just one point from their three league matches against Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao between February 3 and February 19, which seriously dented their title hopes.
However, Michel's side were back to winning ways last time out, recording a 3-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano, with the result moving them onto 59 points from 26 league matches this season courtesy of a record of 18 wins, five draws and three defeats.
Girona are second in the table, two points ahead of third-placed Barcelona and six from the leaders Real Madrid, while they also have a 10-point advantage over fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao in the race to secure Champions League football for next season.
A top-four finish would still go down as a remarkable campaign for the White and Reds, who are in just their fourth-ever season at this level of football, finishing 10th, 18th and 10th in their previous three.
Girona have the second-best away record in Spain's top flight this season, picking up 27 points from their 13 matches, recording eight wins in the process, while they are the joint-leading goalscorers away from home this term alongside Barcelona, finding the back of the net on 24 occasions.
Team News
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Mallorca will again be missing Pablo Maffeo, who has a knee injury, but Siebe Van der Heyden and Antonio Raillo are both available after serving suspensions against Alaves.
The hosts have not reported any fresh concerns from their clash with Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey, and it is expected to be largely the same side for this match.
There is set to be a change in the final third, though, with Vedat Muriqi likely to replace Abdon Prats, while Predrag Rajkovic will be back between the sticks, and Toni Lato is also expected to return on the left.
As for Girona, Daley Blind, Joel Roca and Toni Villa remain unavailable for selection, but there are no fresh injury problems for the team currently second in the table.
Head coach Michel is unlikely to change a winning side, so it could be a case of same again from the XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Rayo last time out.
Portu should again be given the nod over Ivan Martin in the number 10 position, while two-goal Savio will feature off the right, with Artem Dovbyk, who has 14 La Liga goals this term, leading the line.
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Gonzalez, Valjent, Raillo, Copete, Lato; A Sanchez, S Costa, D Rodriguez; Muriqi, Larin
Girona possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Couto, E Garcia, D Lopez, Gutierrez; Herrera, A Garcia; Tsyhankov, Portu, Savio; Dovbyk
We say: Mallorca 1-2 Girona
Mallorca will have been boosted by their penalty-shootout success over Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey, but Girona need to keep winning to stay in the title picture, and we believe that the Catalan side, who have been impressive on their travels this season, will edge a close match this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
