Eibar vs Espanyol Predictions

Sunday’s La Liga action gets underway in the Basque Country and we could be set for a close contest at Ipurua Municipal Stadium between two sides who have struggled massively in the opening weeks of the campaign. Both Eibar and Espanyol occupy spots in the relegation zone after picking up just one point from three games, so a win on Matchday 4 would do much to relieve some pressure on the teams and their respective managers.

The international break will have brought some welcome respite for both of these sides, but in particular Espanyol who appear to have struggled with their Europa League commitments.

It’s been a big thumbs up for Periquitos in that competition so far after comfortable aggregate victories against Stjarnan (7-1), Luzern (6-0) and Zorya (5-3) secured the club’s participation in the Group Phase, but they have suffered domestically for their efforts.

Whilst it’s a given that they have faced stronger opposition in the league, Espanyol have been a completely different proposition on the weekends as typified by their woeful 0-3 defeat to Granada at RCDE Stadium last time out.

After a 0-0 stalemate at Alaves and a 0-2 reversal against Sevilla on the opening day, Espanyol are the only team yet to score in the top flight so far this season and it’s becoming pretty clear already that Periquitos badly miss the services of Borja Iglesias who was sold to Real Betis for 28 million Euros over the summer.

The results and performances in La Liga are heaping a huge amount of pressure on new manager David Gallego, who would have been targeting another step forward this term after the club’s fine 7^th place finish in 2018/19.

Things need to change pretty quickly for Espanyol if they are to maintain hopes of European qualification again this time around, but they certainly don’t look a good thing to bag the points this Sunday.

Periquitos have claimed just a single draw from their last four visits to Ipurua Municipal Stadium and have a terrible recent record in the Basque Country having won just of their last 11 trips to the region (D4, L6).

Whilst unbeaten in five away La Liga matches stretching back to last season, Espanyol have won just three of their last 20 top flight games on the road in total, which hardly bodes well for them here considering the start to the season they have had.

Eibar have obviously endured a similarly poor start to the new campaign in terms of results; however they have had to contend with three away matches on the spin. Los Armeros are notoriously poor travellers as their record of just two wins from 19 on the road last season emphasises, so Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side will be pleased to return home this weekend.

Whilst their 2-1 opening day defeat to  Mallorca has to be marked down as a poor effort, a 0-0 stalemate at Osasuna on Matchday 2 looks fair considering champions Barcelona only managed a draw against the Segunda champions the following week.

Last time out, Eibar more than ruffled Atletico Madrid’s feathers by taking a 0-2 lead at Wanda Metropolitano, before they were eventually worn down by Diego Simeone’s side. The 3-2 defeat may have initially squashed morale in the Eibar dressing room, but Los Armeros should take plenty of heart from their performance in Madrid on reflection.

A repeat of that showing here should see Eibar over the line and we’re backing the hosts based on the recent head to head and their generally strong home record (W9, D6, L4 last term). Espanyol have scored in three of their last four visits here and in eight of ten previous meetings between the teams, so 2-1 is our correct score prediction.