Alaves vs Granada: Can Granada Win Today?

To begin with, on this coming Saturday, the 14th round of the Spanish La Liga will open with a game between Alaves and Granada in the Mendizorrotza stadium. The search for Paco Lopez’ team’s first away victory in the current campaign will continue over the coming weekend.

Alaves was brought back from the cloud nine by losing a heart wrenching game 2-1 against Barcelona at the Olímpic Lluís Companys ahead of the international break. However, prior to this mishap, the Garcia’s team were in great form, trashing Deportivo Murcia 10-0 on November 2 and then outscoring Almeria 2-1.

At the moment, with 12 points from 13 matches, Alaves is at 15th position on the La Liga table together with Villarreal and Sevilla.

However, Granada has lagged at catching up pace in the league. In their recent game they had a 1:1 tie against Getafe. The result, meanwhile, has left a sad history of Lopez’s boys, having no wins in the last 10 La Liga matches including four draws and six losses dating back to the 10-goal thriller success against Mallores in August. Granada have just seven points from thirteen matches and are 19th on the league standings, four points from the bottom.

Head-to-Head Key Numbers:

There have been more than ten matches between Granada and Alaves, each has recorded victory seven times in their respective encounters. However, Alaves has only won twice and drawn once in the same time frame.

So far, Granada has not won a single match away from home in La Liga this season. They have so managed that they have lost four and drawn one in their five away matches away. On the other hand, Alaves in the recent La Liga encounters is not doing well in having lost 5 out of the last 9 games.

Alaves has a few injury problems, where Abdel Abqar, Aleksandar Sedlar and Giuliano Simeone will miss out. Moreover, Carlos Benavidez may not attend due to the muscle problem and will be determined just before the match.

Coach Luis could opt for a similar lineup as the one used against Barcelona. Jon Guridi and Luis Rioja are likely to aid Omorodion who has netted in three times with regards to the recent Spanish football league campaign.

However, Granada will have to do a couple of things differently compared to their last game. Raul Torrente is out with a leg injury while Bryan Zaragoza is serving suspension following a booking. Victor Diaz can probably be brought in to strengthen the back line. On the other hand, Zaragoza will more than likely call upon Antonio Puertas. Jose Callejon (among others) is competing for a place in the starting XI. However, Lucas Boye and Myrto Uzuni, who have scored a total of seven league goals this season are likely to be the team’s attacking force (among others).

Players to Watch

Alaves' Players:

• Sivera (Goalkeeper)
• Gorosabel, Maras, Marin, Duarte (Defenders)
• J. Lopez, Guridi, Blanco, Guevara, Rioja (Midfielders)
• Omorodion (Forward)

Granada's Players:

• Ferreira (Goalkeeper)
• Manafa, Miquel, Diaz, Neva (Defenders)
• Villar, Gumbau (Midfielders)
• Melendo, Puertas (Attacking Midfielders)
• Uzuni, Boye (Forwards)