Cartagena vs Alaves Predictions & Match Preview

Cartagena vs Alaves predictions and match preview for Sunday’s Segunda División fixture. Read on for analysis as two top six teams meet.

Cartagena vs Alaves Preview

Cartagena and Alaves face off on Monday in Spain’s Segunda Division on what is a big night at the top of the league with 4 of the top 5 meeting. The visitors here are the table toppers currently, but Cartagena would leapfrog them by winning this game and that will certainly be the motivation for Luis Carrión and his side.

Cartagena are certainly enjoying life under his leadership and secured an impressive 9th place finish last term, their highest league finish in the second tier since 2009/10 when they were defeated in the play-offs. There was style as well as substance with Cartagena firing in 63 goals, the best return outside of the top two.

There were doubts as to whether they’d be able to carry that on this season with last term’s top scorer Rubén Castro moving to join Malaga. However the Cartagos are still doing many of the same things well and they are still scoring goals. That has helped them win 4 of their opening 6 matches including a surprise 1-0 success away at recently relegated Levante last time out.

That should serve as a warning to Alaves that this is not a side to be underestimated. However so far, things do look pretty positive for the Vitoria side who went into the season as the least fancied of the three teams to drop out of the top flight. However they were quick to act in getting Luis Garcia in with the former Mallorca boss somebody who certainly knows a thing or two about getting out of this league.

He clearly wants Alaves to have many of the same defensive foundations and the early signs are positive. They are unbeaten after 6 matches, winning 4 of them, the most recent of which was a 2-1 triumph over Huesca last time out. The start is all the more impressive when you consider the huge turnover of players that occurred this summer but they already look like a team that is going to be a strong promotion contender.

Score Prediction: Cartagena 1-2 Alaves

Cartagena are usually quite a positive team that will look to target the win and that should ensure we get a relatively open game here with chances likely at both ends. There’s not likely to be much in it but there is a confidence about Alaves right now and they may just have the edge over 90 minutes.

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