Sports Mole previews Saturday's La Liga clash between Almeria and Cadiz, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Both looking to conclude their disappointing campaigns on relative highs, second-tier bound duo Almeria and Cadiz will meet at Power Horse Stadium for a La Liga clash on Saturday evening.
La Rojiblancos secured a share of the spoils at the home of Mallorca last time out, whereas the Yellow Submarine played out a goalless draw with Las Palmas.
Match preview
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Heading into the final weekend of a painful 2023-24 campaign for Almeria in La Liga, Rojiblancos sit rock bottom of the top-tier standings having collected just 18 points from 37 contests, meaning that their stay in the division will be ending at the two-year mark.
It took up until the middle of March for Almeria to seal their first victory of the season in La Liga, winning 1-0 away at Las Palmas, with Rojiblancos also victorious at the home of Rayo Vallecano to make it two successes so far during a term in which they have been unable to handle the quality of the division.
After losing back-to-back matches to Real Betis and Spanish giants Barcelona recently, Almeria responded by securing a point from a four-goal thriller with Mallorca at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix, with strikes from Sergio Arribas and Bruno Langa proving enough for a draw for the visitors.
Hurtling towards their final home La Liga fixture of the term, Pepe Mel's troops are still searching for their maiden victory in front of their home supporters at Power Horse Stadium, earning just eight points from 18 home contests so far this season.
Although Rojiblancos are comfortably the poorest side in La Liga, they have actually found the net on more occasions than five of their top-flight counterparts, with 22-year-old Arribas leading the club's Golden Boot race ahead of Brazilian Leo Baptistao as the campaign draws to its close.
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Having earned promotion to this level after finishing second in the second tier during the COVID-hit 2019-20 campaign, Cadiz's four-year association with La Liga is coming to a sobering end after they were unable to earn maximum points from a meeting with Las Palmas last time out.
Needing a win to keep their chances of avoiding a bottom-three finish alive on the final day, the Yellow Submarine were ultimately unable to breach the net of Las Palmas goalkeeper Alvaro Valles, whose shutout at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla sentenced the hosts to relegation.
Ahead of Saturday evening's trip to Almeria, Cadiz are occupying 18th position in the La Liga table after collecting 33 points from 37 matches, lying four points behind 17th-placed Mallorca, meaning that a miraculous final-day escape from relegation is not possible for the visitors.
Brought into the club from Chilean side Universidad de Chile in January of this year, Argentine manager Mauricio Pellegrino has not fulfilled his purpose of keeping the Yellow Submarine in La Liga, although only six losses in 15 competitive matches in charge for the 52-year-old cannot be disregarded completely.
If the La Liga table was decided purely on home form, Cadiz would be relaxing in a sea of mid-table mediocrity ahead of the final day, with the team's tally of nine points from 18 league outings essentially the reason why they will be playing La Liga 2 football in the fall.
Almeria La Liga form:
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
Cadiz La Liga form:
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
Team News
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Heading into the final match of the season, Almeria are expected to be without the services of centre-back Cesar Montes due to a muscle injury sustained following the draw with Mallorca.
Rojiblancos are also unable to call upon the talents of Iddrisu Baba, who has enjoyed a productive spell on loan from Mallorca during the 2023-24 term.
Cadiz have already seen Jorge Mere in a yellow shirt for the last time this season, with the defender suffering a cruciate ligament injury in late April.
Featuring in just four La Liga matches this term, Federico San Emeterio is missing the remainder of the season due to his own ligament issues.
Receiving his marching orders in the second half last weekend, Victor Chust is unavailable to feature during Saturday's final day at Almeria.
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Pozo, Radovanovic, Brandariz; Langa; Gonzalez, Melero; Romero, Arribas, Centelles; Suarez
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Zaldua, Fali, Carcelen, Hernandez; Navarro, Escalante, Alcaraz, Sobrino; Juanmi, Ramos
We say: Almeria 2-2 Cadiz
With both sides already guaranteed to be relegated at the end of play, the pressure being off could lead to an entertaining watch for supporters.
Almeria will be desperate to record their first win at the Power Horse Stadium this season, but we feel that Rojiblancos will have to settle for a point.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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