Almeria will be bidding to make it back-to-back victories in Spain's top flight when they continue their 2022-23 campaign away to Real Valladolid on Monday night.
The visitors, who are currently 11th in the table, will enter this contest off the back of a 2-1 victory over Sevilla, while 19th-placed Real Valladolid lost 4-0 at Barcelona in their last match.
Match preview
Real Valladolid will certainly not be the last team to lose heavily to Barcelona this season, with the Catalan outfit putting together an impressive squad this summer, and it was tough for Pacheta's side at Camp Nou last weekend, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice in a 4-0 win for the hosts.
The White and Violets also lost 3-0 at home to Villarreal on the opening weekend of the new campaign, but they managed to claim an impressive point at Sevilla on August 19; a total of one point from three matches has left them in 19th, but it has been a very tough start to the campaign in terms of opposition.
Real Valladolid now have a run of matches against Almeria, Girona, Cadiz and Getafe, which are the type of fixtures that are likely to determine whether they can stay in the league this season.
Pucela dropped down to the Segunda Division for the 2021-22 campaign due to their 19th-place finish in the 2020-21 La Liga season, but they returned at the first time of asking by finishing second in the second tier.
Real Valladolid were 1-0 winners when they last faced Almeria in La Liga in March 2014, but the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in the corresponding fixture in last season's Segunda Division campaign.
Almeria have impressed in the early stages of this season, only narrowly losing at home to the champions Real Madrid on August 14 before picking up a point away at Elche in their second match.
Rubi's side then managed to secure their first three points of the campaign last time out by recording a 2-1 win over Sevilla, with Umar Sadiq netting what proved to be the deciding goal, but the 25-year-old has now made the move to Real Sociedad.
Almeria are currently in 11th position in the table, and they are bidding to make it back-to-back campaigns at this level of football for the first time since 2015.
Rubi's side won last season's Segunda Division, but they finished level on points (81) with second-placed Real Valladolid, with both teams having an identical record of 24 wins, nine draws and nine defeats.
La Union ultimately finished as champions due to their superior head-to-head record over the team directly below them, having taken four points from their two fixtures last term.
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Team News
Real Valladolid will again be missing Shon Weissman for this contest due to a muscular problem, while Gonzalo Plata and Sergio Asenjo are also major doubts.
The home side will be boosted by the return of Jawad El Yamiq following his suspension, though, and the 30-year-old is expected to return in the middle of the defence.
Head coach Pacheta is likely to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes from the side that took to the field against Barcelona, but Toni Villa could come in for a start in the final third.
As for Almeria, Ivan Martos and Juanjo Nieto will again be out through injury, but Alex Centelles is available once again following a suspension.
There will be a spot open in the final third of the field following Sadiq's departure, and Leo Baptistao could now come into the starting XI alongside Largie Ramazani.
Aside from Sadiq, head coach Rubi is likely to select the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Sevilla last time out, with Kaiky again playing in a back three.
Real Valladolid possible starting lineup:
Masip; L Perez, Sanchez, El Yamiq, Escudero; Aguado, Monchu, K Perez; Tuhami, Guardiola, Villa
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Ely, Babic, Kaiky; Pozo, Robertone, Eguaras, Costa, Akieme; Baptistao, Ramazani
We say: Real Valladolid 1-1 Almeria
There is not too much between these two teams in terms of quality, and we are expecting a tight match on Monday evening. A defeat for either would be damaging for their confidence, even at this stage of the season, but we can see a close match finishing all square.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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