Espanyol vs Alaves Predictions

• Espanyol have won three of their last six home league games
• Alaves have lost six of their last seven away La Liga matches
• Alaves have lost 1-0 in three of those seven away trips

Espanyol set to close the gap

Espanyol will attempt to close the gap to the top four in La Liga when they host struggling Alaves at RCDE Stadium on Friday.

Manolo Gonzalez’s side suffered a small setback in their quest for European football when they lost 3-2 at Valencia on Saturday to a 94th-minute winner. But they have been pretty good at home this term, beating all but one of the current lower-half clubs they have faced – bar Valencia once more.

The Parakeets have been solid in defence and offered enough of a threat up front against the mid-ranking sides to suggest they can take three points in this contest.

Alaves are the joint-worst on the road

Alaves have won two of their last three games – a league win over Real Betis and a cup success against Rayo Vallecano – but three defeats in their last five La Liga games overall is a greater indicator of where they are.

The Basque outfit have been particularly poor on the road, losing six of their last seven away La Liga matches and failing to score in three of them. Along with Elche, Alaves have the worst away record in the division with eight defeats, one draw and one victory from 10 trips.

Back a 1-0 Espanyol victory with the odds for a home win good enough to accept without pushing the boat out with a win to nil selection.