Alaves vs Eibar Predictions & Match Preview

Alaves vs Eibar predictions and match preview for Thursday’s Segunda División Play-Off Semi-Final 2nd leg. Read on for analysis as these two Basque sides face off again.

Alaves vs Eibar Preview

The second Semi-Final in the Segunda Division play-offs reaches what promises to be a tense conclusion on Thursday as Basque rivals Alaves and Eibar face off at Mendizorroza. It’s 1-1 from Saturday’s 1st Leg and this one is very tough to call.

Alaves took the lead in just the 9th minute at Ipurua with Mamadou Sylla firing Luis Garcia’s men in front. That would prove the only shot on target the visitors would have in the game though, with Eibar having the better of things after that and they would level the game on the stroke of Half-Time through Stoichkov.

Overall, Alaves would certainly have been the happier team to leave with the score level and they’ll be hoping their home fans can make a difference. They’ve already narrowly missed out on promotion once with a final day draw at Las Palmas not enough to seal a top two finish but they’ve shown plenty of defensive resilience in the last two games and will take confidence from having only lost one home game all season in the Segunda Division.

Eibar were beaten 2-0 here in February and may sense that their best opportunity to progress from this tie has passed after they failed to make their superiority count on Saturday. They only managed to win 1 of their final 5 away league games and will also be hampered here by a suspension for veteran defender Anaitz Arbilla who was sent off late in the 1st Leg.

Gaizka Garitano’s side will be hoping to make amends for last season’s defeat in the 2nd Leg of their Play-Off against Girona. They were dominant in that game too but lost 2-0 at home, having done the hard part by winning the away leg 1-0. They will need to be more clinical on Thursday in a game that is unlikely to serve up many clear opportunities.

Score Prediction: Alaves 1-1 Eibar (AGG: 2-2)

There’s really not a lot to separate these sides. They finished on an identical number of points in the regular season with the same number of wins, draws and defeats. Even the goals for and against tallies were very similar so it’s no great surprise that the 1st Leg ended level and we could well go the distance in Vitoria on Thursday evening.

PLEASE NOTE – Our Segunda División predictions are not betting tips! No profits are guaranteed if you’re using them to bet on Spanish football. If you are gambling, do so responsibly and never stake more than you can afford to lose. BeGambleAware.