Rayo Vallecano will welcome bottom-of-the-table Elche to Campo de Futbol de Vallecas this Monday in the last fixture of Round 7 of the 2022/23 La Liga season.
Venue: Campo de Futbol de Vallecas (Madrid)
Key Statistics
Rayo Vallecano have failed to score in two of their league games this season.
The hosts have won just one of their last 12 home league games (D4, L8).
Elche have lost their last five away matches.
They have lost five of their last six matches this season (D1).
They failed to score in seven of their last ten away matches.
The visitors have conceded 2+goals in seven of their last ten away matches.
Both sides have never drawn across eight top-flight meetings.
Head to head
Elche have the upper hand in recent meetings between both sides with five wins in their last ten head-to-head meetings. Rayo Vallecano have two wins in that period.
Latest performances in all competitions
Rayo Vallecano: L-L-W-L-L
Elche: L-L-L-L-D
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano will look to bounce back from their embarrassing loss to Real Betis when they welcome Elche to the Spanish capital on Monday.
The hosts come into this tie on the back of a 3-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao, a game that saw them concede three times in the first half despite opening the scores in the fifth minute of the game.
They currently sit in 12th place but just three points ahead of Valladolid who are sitting in 18th place.
But after back-to-back two-goal hauls from their attacking unit, Rayo Vallecano will fancy their chances of again piling on the goals when they host an Elche side who currently have the league’s worst defence.
Possible Rayo Vallecano starting line-up
Stole Dimitrievski Ivan Balliu, Florian Lejeune, Alejandro Catena, Fran Garcia; Santi Comesana, Oscar Valentin; Isi Palazon, Oscar Valentin, Garcia Rivera; Oscar Trejo, Camello Perez.
Injured: Ruben de Tomas
Doubtful: Salvi Sanchez, Andres Martin
Suspended: None
Elche
Elche will make the trip north-west looking to record their first win of the season.
The visitors have made the worst of all 20 teams in La Liga having taken just one point from their opening six games (D1, L5).
They come into this tie on the back of a 3-0 loss to Barcelona–their fourth loss in a row. Their only home victory against Vallecano last season was just the second from 12 attempts for manager Francisco Rodríguez in charge of any team (D2, L8)
However, that underwhelming personal record will be the last thing on Rodriguez’s mind as he fights for his job. With games against Valencia and Real Madrid on the horizon in mid-October, failure to break their six-game win drought (D1, L5) against either Vallecano or Mallorca next round will probably see Elche searching for a new boss.
While their position at the table after six rounds leaves them as the early relegation favourites, Rodríguez can at least draw inspiration from the fact five of the 11 La Liga clubs in the 21st century to have earned one or no points from their first six matches went on to clinch survival.
Possible Elche starting line-up
Edgar Badia; Helibelton Palacios, Gonzalez Polanco, Enzo Roco, Carlos Clerc; Raul Guti, John Donald Chetauya, Gerard Gumbau; Tete Morente, Pere Milla, Lucas Boye.
Injured: Fidel, Pedro Bigas, Ommar Mascarell
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Gonzalo Verdu
Prediction
Rayo Vallecano 1-1 Elche
