Espanyol vs Rayo Vallecano Predictions & Match Preview

Espanyol vs Rayo Vallecano predictions and match preview for Thursday’s LaLiga fixture. Read on for analysis, the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as Rayo travel to the RCDE Stadium.

Espanyol vs Rayo Vallecano Preview

Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano clash in one of the opening games on Thursday in LaLiga. It’s a more important one for the visitors who are perhaps one win from safety but they still haven’t picked up three points yet in 2022.

The hosts come into this having suffered a painful late defeat in Madrid at the weekend. Yannick Carrasco’s 100th minute penalty sealed a 2-1 win for 10-man Atleti after Raul de Tomas had levelled the game for Espanyol. It’s not a result that will have serious consequences for Vicente Moreno’s side who are heading for a safe mid-table finish on their return to the top flight.

The Atleti game saw Moreno experiment a bit by playing with three centre-backs and while we are unlikely to see a repeat in this game, it’s possible Espanyol may look to go that way again before the season is out. Overall, Moreno will be looking for ways to reduce the dependence on Raul de Tomas as we head into next season. The former Rayo frontman is up against his old team here and has netted three times as many league goals as the next highest scorer on either side in this fixture.

Rayo’s goals have been shared around with Sergi Guardiola and Radamel Falcao sharing duties as the lone striker and both have 5 goals. The same goes for wideman Alvaro Garcia while Oscar Trejo and Isi Palazon have both impressed on the creative front, although it’s certainly fair to say that Rayo haven’t offered quite the same threat since the turn of the year, at least not for such long periods in games.

They are still waiting for that elusive league victory in 2022 and they will be starting to get a bit jittery now, particularly after a 1-0 weekend defeat at fellow strugglers Alaves. They are back in Catalonia at the weekend to face Barcelona which clearly will be tough, but they’ll be hoping they can be competitive here and potentially take what would be a useful point.

Head to Head

• Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 3 Rayo Wins, 2 Espanyol Wins, 1 Draw.
• Rayo Vallecano have won the last 3 meetings.
• They won 1-0 when the sides met in Vallecas earlier this term.
• Rayo have only won 1 of their last 5 at the RCDE Stadium – a 3-2 win in the Segunda last term.

Team News

Latest LaLiga Injuries & Suspensions

Possible Lineups

Espanyol vs Rayo Vallecano Predictions

Score Prediction: Espanyol 2-1 Rayo Vallecano

Even in defeat at the weekend, Rayo had 20 attempts on goal, the most by any team on matchday 32. They are still asking questions of opposing defences and that trend may continue here but Espanyol are strong at home and look the more likely victors.

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