Espanyol vs Deportivo La Coruna Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This game sees two sides who have improved as the season has progressed meet. Espanyol in particular have really adjusted to life under Quique Sánchez Flores now and they certainly look like strong favourites to win this match.

Espanyol probably didn’t want the winter break to come as their form was excellent going into it. They’d gone 9 games without defeat in La Liga before running into a red hot Leo Messi at Camp Nou in their final league game of 2016. Their strong defence has been the main reason for their improvement, with clean sheets coming in 7 of those 9 games.

They had to wait until late November for their first home win but are chasing a 3rd straight home victory here. With their recent defensive showings as good as they’ve been, they’ll be optimistic of keeping Depor’s much improved attacking unit pretty quiet and at the other end, the likes of Pablo Piatti should provide the creative spark to unlock a leaky visiting defence.

Deportivo La Coruna are also at a slight disadvantage in that they have Copa del Rey games against top flight opposition either side of this match, so the hosts should be slightly the fresher having had a longer winter break. The Galicians are though in pretty good form and have scored twice or more in all of their last 5 games. However. defensively there is much to improve on. They’ve conceded 2.13 goals per game this term on their travels and have lost 62% of their away games. Only one side has picked up fewer points than them away from home so aside from a few improved recent performances, there is little to suggest they will come here and turn over Espanyol.

With the likes of Florin Andone in good form in front of goal, an away goal can’t be ruled out, but Espanyol look a stronger all-round unit and with home advantage should get the job done. Therefore, backing Espanyol to win at 21/20 looks to offer value and the recent head-to-head certainly backs that up.