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Almeria will host Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio del Mediterraneo on Friday in the opening game of the 2023-24 La Liga campaign.
The home side achieved promotion to the Spanish top-flight last season for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign. They had their struggles in La Liga last season but ultimately confirmed survival on the final day after a dramatic 3-3 draw against Espanyol which saw them finish 17th in the league table, one point above the drop zone.
Manager Rubi departed the club at the expiration of his contract in June and has been replaced by Vicente Moreno, who will be targeting a positive start to life in Andalusia.
Rayo Vallecano, meanwhile, enjoyed a largely solid campaign last season as they finished 11th in the league table. They picked up 49 points from 38 games last season, their joint-highest points tally in their last seven seasons in the Spanish top-flight.
Like their opponents, the visitors are also set to begin the new season under a new head coach after former boss Andoni Iraola left the club to join Premier League side Bournemouth after three years at Rayo.
Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Friday's game will mark the 20th meeting between Almeria and Rayo. The hosts have won six of their previous matchups while the visitors have won 11 times. There have been two draws between the two teams.
- The visitors have won two of their last three games in this fixture after going winless in their three games prior.
- The hosts are without a clean sheet in their last three games in this fixture.
- All but one of Almeria's 11 league wins last season came on home turf.
- 10 of Vallecano's 15 league defeats last season came away from home.
- La Union conceded 65 goals in La Liga last season, the third-highest in the competition.
Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction
Almeria's latest result ended a three-game winless streak and they will be looking to build on that this weekend. They performed well on home turf last season and will be looking to continue that streak this season as well.
Rayo Vallecano are on a four-game winless streak and have won just one of their last six matches. They have lost their last five away league games and could see defeat here as well.
Prediction: Almeria 1-0 Rayo Vallecano
Almeria vs Rayo Vallecano Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Almeria to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Eight of the last 10 matches between the two teams have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of their last four matchups)
