Espanyol will travel to San Tirso on Thursday evening for the first round of the Copa del Rey. The match will be staged in A Coruna, with a single winner progressing onto the second round, taking part in a draw with 55 other teams next month.
Match Preview
In fact, the return of Espanyol to La Liga after promotion from the Spanish second division has been anything but easy, with the team having lost seven of their first 11 league games so far. The club currently lies in 17th place, only a point away from the relegation zone. Of late, their form has been difficult, losing five of their last six, a 2-0 home reverse against Sevilla being the latest of these losses last weekend. Head coach Manolo Gonzalez acknowledges his team’s mistakes this season and aims for a positive result in the Copa del Rey before they face a tough La Liga match against Barcelona on Sunday.
Although Espanyol celebrated their 124th anniversary on Monday, their away record this season has been weak – four losses and only one draw in away games. Nevertheless, they have always managed to get through the first round of the Copa del Rey – each year since 2002.
Opponents San Tirso go into the Copa del Rey as one of its lowest-ranked teams. Based in Mabegondo, San Tirso enjoyed a great deal of local success last season as they won the Copa de A Coruna, Copa Diputacion, and Supercopa de Galicia. They made it into the first round of this year’s Copa del Rey thanks to a thrilling penalty shootout win over Selaya in the preliminary round. Head coach Fabio Rodriguez was visibly emotional after the win and proud and excited as his team would face this important game against La Liga opposition.
Since the reverse to Selaya, San Tirso have picked up four points in the league thanks to the recent 2-0 win over Mino, one that has propelled them to the eighth position in the Preferente de Galicia – Group 1.
Copa del Rey Form: W
Recent Form (All Competitions): D–W–W–D–L–W
Recent Form (All Competitions): L-L-L-W–L-L
Team News
Sant Tirso intend to send a strong line-up into the game and could include the ever dangerous winger Cristian Quintans, who netted in the previous round. Denis, Pedro Carpente, Rey Diaz, Paulo Vigo, and Adrian Suarez may get starting berths, as they have been regular starters.
Through injury, Espanyol will be without Fernando Calero (muscle), Eduardo Exposito (knee), Jose Gragera (thigh), and Naci Unuvar (undisclosed). There is doubt over Javi Puado, though, who recently returned to action following a knee injury. Other first-teamers such as Marash Kumbulla, Carlos Romero, Alex Kral, Alejo Veliz, and Jofre Carreras are expected to be rested.
Pedicrted Lineups:
San Tirso
Adri; Rellan, Lago, Pablo Vigo, Gamallo; Rey; Xian, Meijide, Quintas; Harvest, Denis
Espanyol
Pacheco; Jurado, Cabrera, Luis Catala, Hinojo; Smith, Bauza; Roca, Carvalho, Almansa; Mingo
Prediction
Our Prediction: San Tirso 0-3 Espanyol
Providing Espanyol fields a team comprised of many of their first-team players, they should easily win. Even if they give younger B-team players an opportunity, Espanyol’s quality should still be enough to see them through over San Tirso.
Data Analysis
Data analysis of the recent performances and players’ statistics shows that the win probability is massively for Espanyol at 89.06%; the draw probability stands at 7.8%, while that of San Tirso is 3.12%. The most probable scoreline is 0-3 at 12.69%, followed by 0-2 at 11.34%, and 0-4 at 10.65%.
