Malaga vs Deportivo La Coruna
Spanish La Liga 2016/17
Date: Saturday, 26th November 2016,
Kick-Off at 12:00 UK
Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda, Malaga.
The early weeks of the season have suggested that these two sides remain roughly where they were last term. Malaga look a solid mid-table side at least while Deportivo La Coruna look like they could be involved in a relegation battle come the final few months. They have problems at both ends of the pitch but scoring goals has been the main concern. They’ve struggled in the final third with new signing Florin Andone taking until week 11 to break his duck for his new club but the Romanian striker has two goals in two games now so things are at least looking up for him.
Overall though Depor still look poor going forward collectively with just 0.83 goals scored per game so far this term and that drops to a very poor 0.33 taking into account only their away games. It’s no surprise then that they are only averaging 0.5 points per game on their travels, the 3rd worst away record in La Liga.
Malaga look to have much more about them in truth and they’ve been very good at home of late, reeling off 4 straight wins at La Rosaleda coming into this one. They’ve scored twice or more in all of those games and average 2 goals per home game overall which is a huge improvement on last season when they often struggled for goals. One reason for that is new signing Sandro Ramírez, who is enjoying life on the Costa del Sol with 5 La Liga goals already. Against a poor Depor side he should get chances to add to his tally and backing Sandro to score any time at 13/10 looks to offer value here.
It’s hard to look past this team winning either. Malaga showed their defensive qualities to grind out a 0-0 draw at Barcelona last weekend and against the weaker teams they’ve shown they are not too shabby at the other end either. They look to have a bit more than Depor in all departments and backing Malaga to win at Evens looks like the value bet here.
Malaga vs Deportivo La Coruna: Head-to-head stats
Malaga are unbeaten in the last 7 matches against Deportivo La Coruna in all competitions. They won 2-0 in the corresponding home fixture of last season and the return leg was a thriller which ended in 3-3 draw.
And at home, Malaga are undefeated against Deportivo since 2003, a record that spreads across 13 matches in all competitions. However, they only managed 3 wins during the period, with 10 matches seeing draws.
Malaga vs Deportivo La Coruna: Prediction
Malaga are a team in good spirit and their recent record at home look particularly strong. The last 4 are win scoring a minimum of 2 goals. Also, they were beaten only once at the La Rosaleda this season, which was against a strong Villarreal.
Deportivo on the other hand are yet to register a win away from home and did struggle in their recent visits to Malaga. They have lost in 3 of the last 4 away matches at this same venue and with the recent stats the hosts look good for a win.
Malaga vs Deportivo La Coruna: Bet Tips
Malaga to win at 12/11 (2.05).
