Real Zaragoza vs Deportivo La Coruna Predictions

This is the tie of the round in the Spanish Copa del Rey. It features two sides that have at various stages competed with the very best clubs in Spain but ones that have fallen on hard times in recent years. Real Zaragoza are desperate to finally get back to the top flight, while Depor are aiming to bounce back at the first attempt. This Wednesday’s game may not rank high on their list of priorities but neither would turn down a decent cup run.

Depor have made a reasonably solid start to life back in the Segunda Division. In recent times they have responded very well to relegation from La Liga and 8 points from 4 games certainly gives them some foundations from which to build. However they haven’t exactly set the world on fire and needed a stoppage time goal to beat 10-man Sporting Gijon on Sunday night.

As for Zaragoza, they come into this game on the back of a huge high, having thumped Real Oviedo 4-0 away at the weekend. Such margins of victory are extremely rare in the Spanish Segunda and only one match last season produced a greater winning margin. Therefore it’s a very notable result, given Oviedo are another of the teams that are expected to push for promotion.

It will be interesting to see what Zaragoza coach Imanol Idiakez does here. Of the two coaches he has greater incentive to stick with the bulk of his last eleven, given the quality of that performance. It’s also worth noting that Zaragoza played a day prior to Depor while their next match is a day after that of the Galician side. That could be really significant when it comes to team selection here and Depor are certainly likely to rotate fairly heavily with 3 games in 7 days.

Unquestionably this is the least important of them and they will have one eye on Saturday’s trip to Alcorcon. The bookies make them only very marginal underdogs but they haven’t really put in a convincing performance yet this season and this is a tough place to go. Zaragoza have only lost 1 of their last 9 competitive matches and they’ve done really well to take 4 points from their last 2 tough matches against Las Palmas and Oviedo.

They shouldn’t really have any reason to fear Depor, who look a little short on firepower, having let their two best forwards, Lucas Perez and Florin Andone, leave this summer. Overall backing Zaragoza Draw No Bet looks like a decent punt here.