By @IceTips
The battle of Rich and Poor
It might not be uncommon for teams in Segunda to be plagued by financial instabilities but the situation Málaga have found themselves in during the last few seasons is akin to an Arrested Development-esque plotline which perhaps turned less funny when they were forced to offload nine key players this season due to aforementioned financial instabilities. Having said that, Málaga has still managed to remain somewhat competitive and look to the future, with an exciting number of prospects coming up in their squad. Bigger teams seem to always end up getting the upper hand against Malaga, who lose their heads away from home. Girona, on the other hand, represent rich (and especially by Segunda standards), being owned by City Group (yes, Man City owners) and have benefitted from those connections aside from attracting players who could well play in top divisions continentally like Stuani, Sylla and Espinosa, for instance. Girona has managed to give everything into games against big teams (beat Espanyol last Friday, for example) but seem to struggle in holding out against lower ranked sides. The league is shaping up in a manner which it ended last time around, so both teams would want to break free from the mid table chaos they‘re currently in – 12th and 13th, and we‘re surely gonna have a volatile match tonight.
Speaking of volatility, Girona have been frantic for red cards this season and have been fouling in accordance. Girona sees on average 2.4 cards per game and their matches roughly 70 booking points. Malaga picks up 2.31 card per game on average and 50 booking points, BUT, when we look at their away games, they push the average widely up.
Foul-wise, both teams are adept at it and the added spice for further foulings is the defensive mentality Malaga has been implementing under Sergio Pellicer this season, and somewhat successfully. Despite holding back teams with supposed further quality, Malaga still maintain to give them a match and only Espanyol has finished them off easily. Said defensive mentality also brought out the worst in Espanyol where the least fouling side in the league still managed to pick up two cards. Coach Pellicer is suspended but replacement Manolo Sánchez is quoted on saying they know how to compete in away games. Which undoubtedly can be interpreted as fouling. Girona‘s backroom staff has been made quite aware of how Malaga will play – defensive and quick on the counter – and that should result in both sides playing well above their averages fouling wise.
That being said, we‘ll see a referee here who‘s a big carder but has been somewhat dormant in dishing them out thus far. But, we saw him last season being “unlocked” in a tight game which didn‘t see him hold back the bookings for the rest of the season. This is a risk factor but the occasion for the teams should see the ref utilizing his full potential.
We‘ll expect Girona to start off powerfully with Malaga focusing on their defensive capabilities, waiting to seize the opportunity to counter attack. This #BuildYourOdds combo is a 2 unit pick. There are some interesting picks that are also worth keeping an eye on such as:• Red card @4.33• Both teams to score @2.37• Chavarría anytime GS @4.20• Sylla anytime GS @2.60
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