Madrid / Elche (Alicante), Oct 16 (EFE) .- El Rayo, which counts its three games in Vallecas by goals, receives Elche with the aim of continuing its good streak at home while the Alicante team aspires to surprise the team Madrid to continue moving away from the descent.
The Vallecano team had an excellent start to the championship with 13 points in eight rounds, although the last round they lost to Osasuna with a goal in added time. That defeat did not dampen the good performance of the team led by Andoni Iraola, who has 13 goals and is the second-highest achiever in the category behind the leader, Real Madrid.
Much of Rayo’s offensive potential is led by Colombian Radamel Falcao, who comes to this match having participated only in a training session with his teammates after attending international commitments with his team.
His presence in the eleven is the great unknown for Rayo, since the accumulation of games in such a short time could make him start from the beginning on the bench, in which case the Frenchman Randy Nteka would start.
The sure novelty is the presence on the right side of the youth squad player Mario Hernández, who will make his debut this season to make up for the absence due to suspension of the Albanian international Iván Balliu.
The objective of Rayo is to continue with the streak that it maintains this season in Vallecas, where Granada (4-0), Getafe (3-0) and Cádiz (3-1) have lost.
Elche, for their part, travels with the ambition to continue their good career and achieve the second away victory in Vallecas this season.
The coach, Fran Escribá, recovers Gonzalo Verdú, who left the match against Celta de Vigo injured, and possibly Pedro Bigas, who has advanced the deadlines for his return after suffering a knee injury a little over a month ago. The only confirmed absence is that of Diego González, also central, with muscular problems, who does not want to be forced.
The great unknown in the Elche team is in the physical condition in which the Colombian Johan Mojica and the Chilean Enzo Roco have returned from the matches with their respective teams. Escribá has both, but will not decide on his possible alignment until his physical condition is specified.
Escribá has not given any clues, but it is most likely that he will keep the defensive line of four for one more day instead of the three centrals that he used at the beginning of the competition.
The defensive doubts contrast with the totality of troops available to the Valencian coach in attack, since he will have at his disposal all his offensive players, including the Argentine Javier Pastore, each time in better condition.
Lucas Boyé, already recovered from his physical problems, and Darío Benedetto point as starters, although the presence in the eleven of Lucas Pérez, the team’s top scorer, cannot be ruled out.
– Probable lineups:
Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski; Mario, Catena, Saveljich, Fran García; Isi Palazón, Pathé Ciss, Comesaña, Álvaro; Trejo; Falcao or Nteka.
Elche: Kiko Casilla; Barragán, Gonzalo Verdú, Enzo Roco. Mojica or Josema; Josan, Mascarell, Raúl Guti, Fidel; Benedetto and Lucas Boyé.
Referee: Santiago Jaime Latre (Aragonese Committee).
Stadium: Vallecas.
Time: 14.00.
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Classification: Rayo (6th. 13 points), Elche (14th. 9 points)
The key: the defensive reliability that Elche shows to stop the punch that Rayo is showing.
The data: three times Vallecas has visited Elche in Primera and twice he won, including the last one, on September 14, 2014 (1-2).
The phrase:
– Iraola: “Elche is a team with several records and difficult to beat”
– Write: “Rayo is a pressuring and aggressive team that is confident because of its good start.”
The environment: Rayo launched the season tickets this week two months into the competition. The fans are upset by the prices and the management of the president, Raúl Martín Presa, and they will let them know with chants against during the game. EFE
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