Deportivo Alaves vs Rayo Vallecano

Deportivo Alaves’ season-long fight against La Liga relegation continues at Estadio Mendizorrotza against top-half strugglers Rayo Vallecano. 

Revenge will be Alaves’ driving force in this meeting following a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss in October’s reverse fixture. That defeat formed part of their five-game losing streak in La Liga, but they’ll take the field in a much better form this time. Indeed, an action-packed 2-2 draw against Las Palmas before the international break lifted ‘El Glorioso’ out of the relegation zone and extended their unbeaten league run to three matches (W1, D2). A fourth looks likely, considering Alaves’ only clean sheet during Eduardo Coudet’s regime came in a 1-0 win against Villarreal in their last home outing. Furthermore, Coudet boasts a 100% win ratio against Rayo Vallecano as manager (W4), while the two most recent H2Hs on this ground yielded identical 1-0 wins for Alaves.

As for Rayo Vallecano, their hopes of securing an unlikely European finish are in freefall after a 2-2 draw against Real Sociedad stretched their winless league run to five straight matches (D2, L3). Stranded seven points adrift of sixth-placed Real Betis, ‘Los Franjirrojos’ must return to winning ways to stay relevant in the European race. However, it could be easier said than done, considering they’ve lost their last two away league matches via single-goal margins. Against this backdrop, they saw off relegation-threatened Valladolid and Valencia earlier in the season, suggesting they’re in the driver’s seat to halt their rotten patch and post a first away league win against Alaves since January 2019.