Sports Mole previews Sunday’s La Liga clash between Las Palmas and Granada, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two newly promoted sides will face off at the Estadio Gran Canaria on Sunday when Las Palmas play host to Granada.
The home side are still searching for their first victory of the La Liga season, while Granada are hoping to bounce back from consecutive defeats by claiming their second win campaign.
Match preview
After ending their five-year stay in the second tier, Las Palmas have made a sluggish start in their return to the top flight, having failed to win any of their five league matches.
Las Palmas began the season with a 1-1 draw against Mallorca, before losing 1-0 away to Valencia and playing out a goalless affair with Champions League participants Real Sociedad on home turf.
Unfortunately for Las Palmas, their last two outings have produced consecutive away defeats to Girona and Sevilla, with Garcia Pimienta’s side conceding the decisive goal in the final 20 minutes of both of those matches.
Their primary concern is to solve their goalscoring woes, having failed to find the net since Jonathan Viera scored a penalty in the draw with Mallorca on matchday one.
The hosts, who currently occupy 19th place in the La Liga table, may view Sunday’s game as a golden opportunity to end the goal drought and the wait for a win, especially after beating Granada 2-0 in last season’s home meeting in the second tier.
© Reuters
While Las Palmas have struggled to trouble the scorers, Granada’s main weakness lies at the opposite end of the pitch after conceding 16 goals in their opening five matches — more than any other side in La Liga.
After losing to Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano, the Nazaries finally got up and running with an entertaining 3-2 home win over Mallorca.
However, Paco Lopez’s side were quickly given a reality check with a disappointing 5-3 defeat to Real Sociedad, before they were beaten 4-2 on home turf by Girona in a game where they conceded three goals in the opening 34 minutes.
Granada managed to offer a fightback in the second half of Monday’s meeting with Girona, reducing the deficit to one thanks to goals from Myrto Uzuni and Lucas Boye, but a late strike from Yan Couto quashed any chances of snatching a point.
Although they have conceded at least two goals in each of their two matches, 18th-placed Granada have fared reasonably well in the final third, registering goals in five matches — more than any other side in the bottom half of the La Liga table.
Las Palmas La Liga form:
Granada La Liga form:
Advert – content below:
Team News
© Reuters
Benitos Ramirez remains unavailable after missing the defeat to Sevilla, and he is joined in the treatment room by Alberto Moleiro, Fabio Gonzalez and Daley Sinkgraven.
After featuring as a substitute in the last two matches, Maximo Perrone could be presented with his first start as a Las Palmas player.
Summer signing Sory Kaba is set to retain his place up front, and he will be looking to open his goalscoring account for the club.
As for the visitors, defenders Jesus Vallejo and Miguel Angel Rubio are both expected to miss Sunday’s encounter through injury.
After featuring as a substitute in four of Granada’s opening five matches, Gonzalo Villar could be given the chance to impress from the start.
Summer signing Lucas Boye will be looking to find the net for a third consecutive game after scoring in his first two games for Granada.
Las Palmas possible starting lineup:Valles; Araujo, Suarez, Marmol, Cardona; Perrone, Rodriguez; Munir, Viera, Ramirez; Kaba
Granada possible starting lineup:Fernandez; Sanchez, Torrente, Miquel, Neva; Melendo, Gumbau, Villar; Zaragoza, Uzuni, Boye
We say: Las Palmas 2-1 Granada
Las Palmas have proven to be goal-shy in the early stages of the season, but we think a vulnerable Granada backline could present the hosts with enough chances to end their barren spell.
At the other end of the pitch, Las Palmas have conceded no more than one goal in any of their five games, and we think that a solid defensive base will lay the foundations for a victory on Sunday.For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data
ID:524741:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect10900:Previews by emailClick here to get Sports Mole’s daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!