Granada will be looking to recover from three straight defeats in La Liga when they continue their 2020-21 campaign at home to basement side Huesca on Sunday afternoon.
The home side have slipped into eighth position in the table due to their recent struggles, but Huesca will not have much sympathy with their opponents as they currently prop up the division.
Match preview
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Granada's involvement in the Europa League means that the Spanish outfit have played a lot of football this season, and they have managed to book their spot in the knockout round of the European competition despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven on Thursday night.
Diego Martinez's side made a strong start to the season, but there is no getting away from the fact that they have struggled domestically in recent weeks, losing each of their last three.
Indeed, since beating Getafe at the end of October, El Grana have picked up just one point from four matches and lost to Real Sociedad, Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo during the month of November.
Granada are still in a relatively strong position in the table, though, currently sitting eighth, just three points behind fourth-placed Real Madrid on the same number of matches (10).
The Red and Whites will certainly be looking to match or better their seventh-place finish from last term, and they do have three winnable fixtures against Huesca, Elche and Real Betis before heading to Real Madrid.
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Huesca are the only La Liga team yet to claim a victory this season, and a total of seven points from 11 matches has left them bottom of the table.
Michel's side are only three points from the safety of 17th position, though, and have proved difficult to beat, having shared the points in seven of their 11 domestic fixtures this term.
The 2019-20 Segunda Division champions are the joint-lowest scorers in the league with eight goals, however, while they have lost heavily at both Sociedad and Real Madrid in recent weeks.
Huesca, who have never played in back-to-back seasons at this level, gave a good account of themselves in a 1-0 loss to Sevilla last weekend, but it is likely to be a very difficult second half of the campaign if they are unable to secure a victory by the end of 2020.
Granada La Liga form: WWDLLL
Granada form (all competitions): WLLWLL
Huesca La Liga form: DLLDDL
Team News
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Granada will again be without the services of Neyder Lozano, Angel Montoro and Fede Vico through injury, while Kenedy, Victor Diaz and Ramon Azeez remain doubts for the home side.
Head coach Martinez is expected to make changes from the side that started against PSV in the Europa League, with Luis Suarez, Jorge Molina and Dimitri Foulquier expected to return.
There is likely to be a shift back to a four-man defence this weekend, while Yangel Herrera, Maxime Gonalons and Luis Milla should again feature in midfield.
As for Huesca, Idrissa Doumbia and Antonio Valera remain unavailable for selection, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape when it comes to injuries.
Sandro Ramirez and Rafa Mir are expected to continue as the front two in a 4-4-2 formation, but there could be a change out wide with David Ferreiro pushing to be involved, potentially in place of Jaime Seoane.
Shinji Okazaki and Javi Ontiveros are also options for change in the final third, although Michel is unlikely to make wholesale changes from the side that performed impressively in the defeat to Sevilla last time out.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Silva; Foulquier, Duarte, Sanchez, Neva; Herrera, Milla, Gonalons; Machis, Molina, Suarez
Huesca possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Maffeo, Insua, Siovas, Galan; Ferreiro, Mosquera, Rico, Garcia; Sandro, Mir
We say: Granada 2-0 Huesca
Huesca are more than capable of taking points off Granada, particularly considering the home team's domestic struggles in recent weeks. Granada are due a win and a strong performance, though, and we fancy Martinez's side to secure a relatively routine three points on Sunday afternoon.
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 Granada win with a probability of 36.18%. A win for Huesca had a probability of 33.93% and a draw had a probability of 29.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Granada win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.25%) and 2-0 (7.03%). The likeliest Huesca win was 0-1 (12.54%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.49%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 0.5% likelihood.
