Both Alaves and Real Betis will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they lock horns at Estadio de Mendizorroza on Monday night.

Betis will enter the contest off the back of a 2-0 defeat at Villarreal before the international break, while Alaves suffered a 1-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao last time out.

Match preview

Alaves lost their opening five league matches of the season against Real Madrid, Mallorca, Valencia, Osasuna and Espanyol before recording a 1-0 victory over the champions Atletico Madrid at the end of September.

The Basque outfit could not build on the success over Diego Simeone's side, though, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao before the international break.

A total of three points from seven matches has left Javier Calleja's side in 19th position in the table, and the fact that they have only scored twice in the league this season is a real concern heading towards the end of the year.

El Glorioso are actually in their sixth straight season at this level of football, but they have ended the last two campaigns in 16th position, and it does appear that they could struggle to stay in the league this term.

Alaves have only won one of their last eight league games against Betis, losing the last two, while they have not beaten the Seville outfit on home soil in Spain's top flight since December 2016.

Betis, meanwhile, have won three, drawn three and lost two of their opening eight matches of the season to collect 12 points, which has left them down in 10th position in the table.

The Green and Whites won three of their four league matches between September 13 and September 26 but entered the international break off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Villarreal.

Betis are also competing in the group stage of the Europa League this season, and they are in a strong position in Group G, having won their opening two fixtures against Celtic and Ferencvaros.

Manuel Pellegrini's side finished sixth in La Liga last season and will be expecting to challenge high up the division once again; they are only actually five points off the summit at this stage and just two behind fourth-placed Sevilla.

Los Verdiblancos will certainly have their eye on next week's Europa League clash with Bayer Leverkusen but will know the importance of returning to winning ways in Spain's top flight.

Team News

Alaves are sweating on the fitness of Edgar Mendez and Florian Lejeune for this match, but the Basque outfit are otherwise in good shape in terms of injuries for this match.

Head coach Calleja is expected to stick with the majority of the side that took to the field against Athletic before the international break, with Luis Rioja and Miguel de la Fuente featuring in the wide areas, so on-loan Manchester United attacker Facundo Pellistri is likely to start on the bench once again.

There could be a change in the centre-forward spot, though, with Joselu potentially coming in for Mamadou Sylla.

As for Betis, Youssouf Sabaly will again miss out through injury, while Victor Ruiz is a doubt, but Sergio Canales is available after a minor problem forced his absence against Villarreal.

Ruiz's fitness problems mean that Edgar Gonzalez should continue in the middle of the defence, while William Carvalho is expected to keep his spot in midfield.

Canales's return could see Juanmi drop down to the bench, with Nabil Fekir moving into a wide area, and Willian Jose again leading the line for the Seville outfit.

Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Aguirregabiria, Navarro, Laguardia, Miazga, Duarte; Fuente, Moya, Loum, Rioja; Joselu

Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Bellerin, Pezzella, Gonzalez, Miranda; Rodriguez, Carvalho; Ruibal, Canales, Fekir; Willian Jose

We say: Alaves 0-1 Real Betis

Alaves's issues in the final third of the field cannot be ignored, and we are finding it difficult to back them to score on Monday night. Betis, though, have a lot of quality in the forward areas, and we are expecting Pellegrini's side to put another three points on the board here.

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