Extremadura vs Mallorca Predictions

Having won promotion from the third tier of Spanish football last season, Extremadura came into this campaign with one goal and one goal only. There objective was of course to beat the drop and they’ve done that comfortably. With one game to go, Saturday’s hosts are ten points clear of the bottom four, so they can enjoy this final match in front of their own fans.

Somewhat strangely, Extremadura have stayed in the division not thanks to their form at this venue, but thanks to their efforts on the road. Saturday’s hosts currently have Segunda’s fifth-best away record, though they’re the not so proud owners of the second-worst home record.

On their own patch, Extremadura have won just seven out of 20, while they’ve tasted defeat on ten occasions. They’ve found it tough to keep teams out, conceding a total of 25 goals, while they’ve not exactly thrived going the other way, as they’ve scored only 20 goals, which is no more than a goal per game on average. Hardly menacing.

Fortunately for Extremadura, Mallorca haven’t been anywhere near as good on the road as they have at home. On their own patch, Mallorca currently rank as the second-best side in the league, though away from home they’re down in 12^th. Unlike at home, Mallorca have struggled to find the net with regularity on their travels, scoring just 18 goals in 20 games. Such a total is disappointing when we consider that they’ve shipped 25. Such a lack of goals is why Saturday’s visitors have won just four times away from home this season, which is not what you’d expected from a side set to compete in the play-offs.

From a betting point of view, this is anything but a game to get excited about; neither side has anything to play for, though at the current prices, it may just be worth having a tiny punt on the visitors.

Mallorca have got two options ahead of this match. Option one, they rest players and take it easy ahead of the play-offs. Option two, they go for it in an attempt to build momentum ahead of a huge two matches. If they opt for the latter, then there’s absolutely no reason as to why they cannot get the better of the hosts, who’ve rarely done anything to be scored of at Estadio Francisco de la Hera.

The visitors haven’t been great on their travels, make no mistake about that. However, they played very well when losing late on against top-six opposition in their most recent away games, posting a pleasing 1.97 expected goals for, while they’ve also beaten the likes of Malaga, another top-six side, on the road of late. With this in mind, a small play on an away win is merited.