Espanyol vs Girona Predictions

The third game this Sunday in La Liga comes from Barcelona where the division’s two less fashionable Catalan clubs are meeting. Girona claimed a famous win on this ground last season, one of their standout results in their first ever top flight season but the chances of a repeat look considerably thinner this time around with Espanyol in great form at home.

Rubi’s men are having a great season overall and currently sit in 5th place heading into match-day 13. They did suffer late heartbreak just before the international break, conceding an 89th minute goal to lose 2-1 at Sevilla. They’d actually led that game heading into the final twenty minutes so it was a rare disappointment for them but they’ll be looking forward to getting back on home soil here.

Girona are only 4 points back on Espanyol but the general consensus is that they’ve rode their luck at times. Brilliant goalkeeping displays from their Moroccan keeper Bono have largely been the reason for some impressive away results such as a 1-0 win at Valencia and 0-0 draw at Sociedad. They are actually unbeaten in 5 games but were again quite fortunate to scrape a draw at home to lowly Leganes last time out.

Some fairly significant injury problems haven’t helped matters and Eusebio will be delighted by some of their recent results but it’s hard to see a similar level of performance yielding any points here. That is largely because Espanyol have been exceptional at home and have the division’s only 100% home record heading into this game.

Defensive qualities have been the main reason for that with recent Spain call-up Mario Hermoso marshalling things. He made his international debut in midweek and has been linked with a move back to Real Madrid but for now he is a big reason why Espanyol have let in just one home goal all season until this point.

Girona haven’t lost away yet but that has been as much by luck and brilliant goalkeeping rather than judgement. They faced 25 shots and needed their keeper to make 9 saves in their recent 1-0 win at the Mestalla and also benefited from marginal VAR calls. Their luck will surely run out soon and backing Espanyol to Win looks good here with Rubi’s side having been so consistent at home.

Backing Borja Iglesias to score anytime could also be worth a punt. The Espanyol striker has fired in 5 goals in his last 4 league appearances and was a bit unlucky to miss out on an international call-up.