LaLiga matchday 31 preview & predicted lineups

After last weekend’s Copa del Rey Final meant another weekend free of league action, LaLiga is back and firmly into the home straight now with an action packed matchday ahead. There’s a top four showdown between Atletico Madrid and Girona while Real Madrid and Barcelona will be hoping to successfully manage rotation away to struggling teams. Here’s our full 2023/24 LaLiga matchday 31 preview with predicted lineups and win probabilities for every game.

LaLiga matchday 31 preview – Predicted lineups

Friday 12th April 2024

21:00 – Real Betis vs Celta Vigo

Betis have lost their last four with doubts starting to arise about Manuel Pellegrini’s future beyond this season. Betis could really do with stopping the rot here but they’re missing Chimy Avila who is suspended and also injured, while Marc Roca and Marc Bartra are still out. We’re likely to see changes from the latest defeat with Nabil Fekir potentially dropping out while Claudio Bravo is also pushing for a start in goal over Rui Silva.

Celta are onto match number three under new boss Claudio Giraldez and with four points so far, he’s unlikely to change a great deal here with Iago Aspas, Jonathan Bamba and Jorgen Strand Larsen likely to provide most of their attacking threat.

Possible Lineups

Real Betis: Rui Silva – Miranda, Sokratis, Pezzella, Sabaly – Guido Rodriguez, Cardoso – Ayoze, Isco, Fornals – Willian Jose (4-2-3-1)

Celta Vigo: Guaita – Dominguez, Jailson, Mingueza – Alvarez, Beltran, Sotelo, Manquillo – Bamba, Aspas – Larsen (3-4-2-1)

Saturday 13th April 2024

14:00 – Atletico Madrid vs Girona

Atletico Madrid beat Dortmund 2-1 on Wednesday night and are expected to rotate in some areas here with the return three days later in Germany. This is still a big game for their top four ambitions but the chance to reach a Champions League semi-final is massive and the likes of Angel Correa, Saul, Reinildo and Stefan Savic should all rotate in while key men like Antoine Griezmann could be restricted to 60 to 70 minutes.

Girona have no such distractions and will go as strong as possible with Champions League qualification virtually guaranteed if they win this. Savio returns from a ban but they have a doubt over Viktor Tsygankov. Ivan Martin is suspended.

Possible Lineups

Atletico Madrid: Oblak – Reinildo, Witsel, Savic – Riquelme, Koke, Saul, Llorente, Molina – Correa, Griezmann (3-5-2)

Girona: Gazzaniga – Blind, David Lopez, Eric Garcia – Miguel, Aleix Garcia, Herrera, Couto – Savio, Dovbyk, Portu (3-4-3)

16:15 – Rayo Vallecano vs Getafe

This is a game that promises very few goals with both sides struggling in the final third. Rayo’s most significant doubt is over top scorer Alvaro Garcia. Andrei Ratiu and Oscar Trejo are options to take his place if he doesn’t make it, but otherwise Rayo should have their best eleven out.

Getafe have unsurprisingly struggled for goals since losing top scorer Borja Mayoral to a season ending injury. It feels like Pepe Bordalas hasn’t really figured out what to do without him with midfielder Oscar Rodriguez and Juanmi Latasa both options in the number nine role, although not entirely convincing ones. They are also missing Carles Aleña to a ban here.

Possible Lineups

Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski – Chavarria, Mumin, Lejeune, Balliu – Unai Lopez, Valentin – De Frutos, Isi, Ratiu – De Tomas (4-2-3-1)

Getafe: Soria – Gaston, Alderete, Djene, Iglesias – Moriba, Milla, Yellu, Maksimovic, Greenwood – Oscar Rodriguez (4-5-1)

18:30 – Mallorca vs Real Madrid

Mallorca were beaten on penalties in the Copa del Rey Final by Athletic Club last weekend. They competed quite well in the game and Javier Aguirre is likely to go with a very similar lineup here, although regular league goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic should return in between the sticks.

Leaders Real Madrid are expected to rotate heavily ahead of the second leg of their Champions League tie with Manchester City. Eder Militao may get a first start since returning from an ACL injury and there should be changes at full back and across the midfield. The league is not yet won though so it’s possible that Ancelotti could still opt to include one or two of his most important players, although with few injuries, there is plenty of depth to pick from.

Possible Lineups

Mallorca: Rajkovic – Copete, Railo, Valjent – Lato, Darder, Dani Rodriguez, Samu Costa, Giovanni – Larin, Muriqi (3-5-2)

Real Madrid: Lunin – Fran Garcia, Nacho, Militao, Vazquez – Modric, Tchouameni, Ceballos – Brahim – Vinicius, Joselu (4-3-1-2)

21:00 – Cadiz vs Barcelona

Cadiz have won back-to-back home games to give themselves a fighting chance in their battle for survival. They’re unlikely to change too much from the side that beat Granada last time out, although Rominigue Kouame is out injured while Maxi Gomez is fit again and an alternative option to Chris Ramos in attack.

Barcelona will also surely ring the changes ahead of their return leg against PSG. There are plenty of enforced alterations for Xavi in any case with Joao Cancelo, Robert Lewandowski and Iñigo Martinez suspended. Pedri and Frenkie de Jong are fit again and both featured in Paris and could get more minutes here, although most likely off the bench. Ferran Torres is also back and should start in a much changed lineup that will also surely see the likes of Fermin Lopez and Joao Felix come in.

Possible Lineups

Cadiz: Ledesma – Javi Hernandez, Chust, Fali, Iza – Navarro, Alcaraz, Escalante, Sobrino – Ramos, Juanmi (4-4-2)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen – Fort, Christensen, Araujo, Kounde – Roberto, Romeu, Fermin – Felix, Vitor Roque, Ferran (4-3-3)

Sunday 14th April 2024

14:00 – Las Palmas vs Sevilla

Las Palmas are struggling a bit right now but have put themselves in such a strong position that relegation is not a realistic concern. They are still missing Julian Araujo to injury while keeper Alvaro Valles is suspended after a very rare error of judgement led to a red card at Barcelona last time out. Aaron Escandell will get a rare start in goal as a result.

Sevilla are missing Marcos Acuña to suspension with Djibril Sow their only other absentee. They’ve developed quite a settled style and lineup under Quique Sanchez Flores over the past couple of months and there’s little reason to expect much to change here from their usual 3-5-2.

Possible Lineups

Las Palmas: Escandell – Cardona, Marmol, Coco, Alex Suarez – Kirian, Loiodice, Muñoz – Moleiro, Sandro, Munir (4-3-3)

Sevilla: Nyland – Salas, Ramos, Bade – Ocampos, Soumare, Gudelj, Oliver, Navas – Romero, En-Nesyri (3-5-2)

16:15 – Granada vs Alaves

Granada rolled the dice and opted for a new direction under Jose Ramon Sandoval but two defeats from two so far under him means the game is up as far as their chances of staying in the top flight. Injuries aren’t a problem and Sandoval has a fully fit squad to choose from if he opts to mix things up a bit.

Alaves are in a similar boat with long-term absentee Aleksandr Sedlar the only player they’re expected to be missing. They’ve lost three of their last four, but Luis Garcia is still likely to stick with his regular starters who have put them in a strong position to beat the drop.

Possible Lineups

Granada: Batalla – Neva, Miquel, Rubio, Mendez – Corbeanu, Sergio Ruiz, Gumbau, Pellistri – Uzuni, Boye (4-4-2)

Alaves: Sivera – Javi Lopez, Abqar, Marin, Gorosabel – Blanco, Guevara – Rioja, Guridi, Vicente – Omorodion (4-2-3-1)

18:30 – Athletic Club vs Villarreal

Athletic Club ended a 40 year wait for one of Spain’s big two trophies by winning the Copa del Rey last weekend and it’s safe to say they have done a lot of celebrating this week. Not playing until Sunday will help Ernesto Valverde get his troops focused on the task at hand and we can expect a similar eleven to the side that took to the field in Seville last weekend, although midfielder Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta is suspended and Unai Simon should return in goal.

Villarreal’s revival ended after four straight wins with a home loss against Atletico Madrid last time out. Despite the fortnight off, they still have a number of injury issues with Yeremi Pino and Denis Suarez definitely out while Juan Foyth, Ramon Terrats and Eric Bailly remain questionable in terms of their participation here.

Possible Lineups

Athletic Club: Simon – Yuri, Paredes, Vivian, De Marcos – Prados, Vesga – Nico Williams, Sancet, Iñaki Williams – Guruzeta (4-2-3-1)

Villarreal: Jorgensen – Cuenca, Mosquera, Albiol, Femenia – Baena, Capoue, Parejo, Guedes – Sorloth, Gerard Moreno (4-4-2)

21:00 – Real Sociedad vs Almeria

Real Sociedad have won all three league games since exiting the Champions League and they’re huge favourites here against rock bottom Almeria. They’re missing Brais Mendez again while Take Kubo is an injury doubt and will be assessed in the lead up to the game.

After winning their first game of the season in Pepe Mel’s first game, Almeria were brought back down to earth with a 3-0 home defeat against Osasuna. Mel will be forced into at least one change from that game with defender Aleksandr Radovanovic injured. Edgar could drop into defence as a result while Leo Baptistao and Luka Romero are options should he want fresh blood in attack.

Possible Lineups

Real Sociedad: Remiro – Galan, Le Normand, Zubeldia, Traore – Merino, Zubimendi, Zakharyan – Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal, Becker (4-3-3)

Almeria: Maximiano – Centelles, Edgar, Montes, Pubill – Peña, Robertone – Embarba, Viera, Ramazani – Baptistao (4-2-3-1)

Monday 15th April 2024

21:00 – Osasuna vs Valencia

This is the first game at El Sadar since Jagoba Arrasate announced his intention to step down as Osasuna boss in the summer. The club are reportedly keen to change his mind and the fans may also let their feelings known on Monday. Osasuna are in good shape with only Kike Barja and Unai Garcia expected to be missing through injury but Arrasate is prone to shuffling his pack and could still make changes from the 3-0 win at Almeria.

Valencia will monitor the fitness of Jose Luis Gaya and Roman Yaremchuk ahead of this game with both carrying injuries but in the frame to start if passed fit. The fit again Andre Almeida is pushing for a start in midfield in what may be a 4-3-3 after he came off the bench to score the winner at Granada last time out.

Possible Lineups

Osasuna: Herrera – Mojica, Herrando, David Garcia, Areso – Muñoz, Moncayola – Arnaiz, Moi Gomez, Ruben Garcia – Budimir (4-2-3-1)

Valencia: Mamardashvili – Foulquier, Ozkacar, Mosquera, Correia – Almeida, Guerra, Pepelu – Fran Perez, Duro, Diego Lopez (4-3-3)