Rayo Vallecano vs Almeria Preview

Rayo Vallecano will welcome Almería to the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas looking to record back-to-back league wins for the first time since November when they recorded three straight wins.

The hosts come into this tie on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over the top-six-chasing Villarreal away from home. That was their second win since the restart and kept them ten points ahead of the relegation zone and just two points shy of European spots.

With half the games now played in the league, they will be satisfied with their league position. However, they cannot afford to become complacent now given that things change very quickly in the top flight.

Their focus will be set on targeting a first top-half finish since 2012/13. But to achieve that, they have to sort out their home form as since beating Real Madrid 1-0 here in early November, Los Franjirrojos have yet to win a home league fixture (D1, L2).

Although they sit just three points above the relegation zone, Almería have fared well since their return to La Liga.

The visitors come into this tie on the back of an impressive 3-2 win over Espanyol to stretch their unbeaten run to three league matches (W1, D2).

Having beaten Rayo by the same 3-1 scoreline in October, they could sense a chance to increase that gap here. However, Los Rojiblancos is one of two sides still to win a league-away game this term (D3, L6), and those struggles on the road could eventually drag them closer to the bottom three.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table