Olympiakos Piraeus vs Arouca Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview Europa League 2016

Football match between: Alaves and Granada CF

Country: Spain

League Competition: Laliga

Kick Off Time: 01:45GMT+7

Date: 26.09.2016

Best Odds: 2.10 from UNIBET

 Alaves will be delighted to have come away from a tough opening 5 fixtures with 6 points on the board. Their 2-1 win at Camp Nou will live long in the memory of any Alaves fan but there will be a hint of disappoint at their first defeat of the season on Thursday. They looked to be heading for a 4th draw out of 5 at Valencia with the game tied at 1-1 going into the final stages. However, a late Dani Parejo penalty won it for the hosts and given the other Valencia goal was scored by an Alaves player, the Basques will feel they should have got something from the game.

The side from Vitoria-Gasteiz have really risen to the occasion against the big clubs but their fate this season is more likely to rest in the hands of their ability to win games like this one. So far they’ve been held at home by Sporting Gijon and Deportivo La Coruna and with another of the likely strugglers visiting here, they’ll be desperate for that first home win.

Granada were always going to take some time to gel, given they have virtually assembled an entirely new squad, so it’s no great shock to see them currently sitting in 19th place. They will take positives from their last two performances, when they earned a 2-2 draw at Betis last Friday and a 2-1 home defeat against Athletic Bilbao in midweek. However, that first win will do wonders for the confidence of this new-look Granada team and they still look very shaky at the back.

This should be an interesting contest between the coaches as it features Granada’s Paco Jemez, who favours an all-out attacking game, up against Alaves’ Mauricio Pellegrino who normally favours a defensive approach. Although Alaves’ last two home games have finished 0-0 this should be a different kind of game against a team that won’t just sit back and try to keep things tight. Alaves will be targeting the win in front of their own fans but Granada have some dangerous attacking players and both teams have scored in all of their 5 league matches so far this season.