Gimnastic vs Elche Predictions

After staying up by four points last time around, Gimnastic would’ve been hoping to move forward this season, though unfortunately, they’ve gone in the wrong direction. They’ve been consigned to relegation for some time, so all there is to play for now is pride. Sunday’s hosts will be hoping to give their fans something to cheer about before they slip into the third tier of Spanish football.

Gimnastic did something that they’d not done all season last time out, as they notched three goals away at Cordoba, though they still walked away with nothing to show for their efforts, as they shipped four. Going forward, they offered more than usual, but their defensive efforts proved to be costly once again.

Fortunately, Sunday’s hosts have done a better job of competing in front of their own fans. Last time out at this venue, Gimnastic beat top-six side Mallorca by two goals to one. It’s debatable whether they fully deserved the win, but at the very least, they matched a strong side in terms of creativity, as they posted 1.55 expected goals for and conceded 1.48. They also created plenty in their penultimate home game against Extremadura, posting 1.56 expected goals for. A repeat of either of those attacking efforts would surely see Gimnastic do well against Elche, who’ve struggled to keep teams quiet on their travels.

Elche have certainly had a better campaign than Gimnastic, but they’ve not excelled on the road, where they’ve won only three out of 19. They’ve only lost half of their other 16 travelling matches, so they’ve not always been easy to beat, though it’s fair to say that their defensive efforts have been weak. Only three teams have conceded more goals away from home in this division than Elche during the current campaign.

In terms of recent away form, Elche haven’t done too badly; they were beaten by Almeria last time out on the road, but they managed to avoid defeat in five out of six prior to that. Rarely do they go without conceding away from home, as they’ve shipped at least once in 17 of their 19 travelling matches this season, though they often get on the score-sheet. They’ve failed to score just four times away from home this season. Interestingly, no Segunda team has failed to score less than Elche on the road.

In the betting, ‘Both Teams to Score’ appeals. Elche have a habit of both scoring and conceding on the road, as they’ve both notched and failed to keep a clean sheet in 68% of their travelling matches. If we add in the fact that Gimnastic have both created a decent amount and given quite a bit away in their recent home games, creating expected goals for figures of 1.55 and 1.56 in their last two, but conceding figures of 1.48 and 1.3, then a bet on both stands out.