Mallorca vs Espanyol– Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Odds, Prediction | La Liga 2022-23

Spain's La Liga sets protocols for the return of fans
Spain's La Liga sets protocols for the return of fans

La Liga action returns this Friday as Real Mallorca host Espanyol in the first game of the 12th Round of the 2022/23 La Liga season.

Venue: Visit Mallorca Estadi (Palma de Mallorca) 

Key Statistics

Real Mallorca have lost their last two home games by 1-0.

They have scored just nine league goals this season. Only Cadiz (5) and Elche (8) have scored fewer goals.

Espanyol have won an equal-league-low four of their 11 La Liga games so far (D4, L3).

The visitors have conceded 19 goals in the league. Only three teams have conceded more.

Head to head

Espanyol have won five of the last ten head-to-heads between both sides. Mallorca have four wins and a draw.

Latest performances in all competitions

Mallorca: W-L-L-D-L

Espanyol: D-L-W-D-D

Real Mallorca 

Mallorca will look to make it two wins in a row for the first time since the end of last season when they host Espanyol on Friday.

The hosts won just their second game of the league season last time when they came from behind to beat Valencia 2-1. In an entertaining game at the Estadio de Mestalla, Mallorca were handed an early advantage when Valencia’s Mouctar Diakhaby was forced off due to an injury within four minutes.

However, Gennaro Gattuso’s side did not allow the injury to affect them and they controlled much of the game. They scored the first goal of the day in the second half through Edinson Cavani, who scored from the spot after Samuel Dias Lino was tripped in the penalty area. 

But Valencia’s lead lasted a little over ten minutes before Mallorca had a penalty of their own, and Muriqi drew Los Bermellones level on his return from suspension. South Korea forward Kang-In Lee sealed the win late in the game with a fine finish handing Mallorca all three points and keeping them off the La Liga relegation zone for another week.

But Javier Aguirre’s men still have plenty of work to do with the points given that they are just three points ahead of 18th place despite finishing Round 11 in 12th position. 

Yet encouragingly for the manager, after that win, his side joined just a handful of La Liga clubs to have won after conceding the opening goal – a feat they managed only twice in league football last season (W2, D1, L19).

But they must kick on from here and establish a winning habit if they are to avoid flirting with relegation for a second successive season.

Possible Mallorca starting line-up

Predrag Rajković; Pablo Maffeo, Martin Valjent, Antonio Raillo, J. Manuel Arias, Jaume Costa; Antonio Sánchez, R. Andres Battaglia, I. Ruiz de; Kang-in Lee, Vedat Muriqi.

Injured: Tino Kadewere

Doubtful: Dominik Greif

Suspended: None

Espanyol 

Espanyol will look to continue their decent run of form when they travel to Palma de Mallorca on Friday.

The visitors began the season poorly with four losses, one draw and one win in their opening six games.

But since that run, they have recorded just one loss in their subsequent five games (W1, D3), and so come into this tie just above the relegation zone.

However, they will feel that they could have had at least two wins in that last five-game sequence after they failed to defeat Elche (2-2) in their most recent league fixture.

Under-fire manager Diego Martinez described the draw as “inexplicable” and “very frustrating”, not least because his side had taken the lead after conceding the first goal of the game, only to drop two points with just minutes to play. 

They will look to avoid another event of dropped points when they face Mallorca as a loss could see them fall into the bottom three. 

Possible Espanyol starting line-up

Benjamin Lecomte; Óscar Gil, Sergi Gomez, Leandro Cabrera, Brian Oliván; Eduardo Expósito, Javi Puado, Sergi Darder, Vinicius Souza; Martin Braithwaite, Joselu.

Injured: Adrià Pedrosa

Doubtful: Ruben Sanchez 

Suspended: None

Odds

 Mallorca to winDrawEspanyol to win
Odds2.253.103.50
Probability (%) 423127

Prediction

Mallorca 2-2 Espanyol