Rayo Vallecano vs Eibar Predictions

This is a really big game for Rayo Vallecano who are in danger of leaving themselves far too much to do in the second half of this season in La Liga. They are already 6 points from safety and are desperate to cut the gap against an Eibar side that achieved arguably their finest ever win just last weekend.

The Basque minnow beat Real Madrid 3-0 at Ipurua to the delight of their supporters. They could have won by more in the end such was their level of dominance against Santiago Solari’s men who had won 4 games on the bounce prior to that. The result lifted Eibar into the top half and they will be hoping to add more consistency to their performances and results starting off here.

Rayo Vallecano haven’t been quite as bad as a return of 7 points from 13 games suggests. Their last two home games were against Villarreal and Barcelona and they were actually winning both of them heading into the final ten minutes but only ended up with a grand total of one point. They were outclassed at the Mestalla last weekend though and they could desperately do with recording a first home win of the season here.

Eibar are the slight favourites with the bookies and that’s probably about right but backing this game to produce goals looks the more sensible strategy than trying to predict the result. Both teams have scored in all of Rayo’s home league games this season with Vallecas a regular source for entertainment and drama. 6 of their last 7 games overall have also seen goals at each end.

The visitors will come full of confidence having given Real Madrid the runaround last weekend, creating a host of chances. Their approach hasn’t changed greatly in that they still like to get the ball wide and put loads of crosses into the box and that could spell trouble for a disorganised Rayo defence that has conceded a huge 2.71 goals per home game on average this term and 2.15 overall, the worst record in the division.

Eibar have conceded in 83 % of their away games though and Rayo do have some genuine attacking qualities so backing Both Teams to Score looks good here.

Backing Raul De Tomas to score anytime also appeals. The Rayo frontman has scored in 4 of his last 5 home appearances.