Sporting Gijon vs Espanyol prediction, preview, team news and more | Segunda Division promotion playoff 2023-24
Sporting Gijon and Espanyol return to action on Sunday when they square off at the Estadio El Molinón in the first leg of the Segunda Division promotion playoff semi-finals. Miguel Ramirez’s men picked up one win and one draw in their home and away meetings in the regular season and will look to pick up a vital victory this weekend.
A late rally from Sporting Gijon saw them secure a top-six finish in the Segunda Division as they picked up three wins in their final four games of the season.
This run of results helped Ramirez’s men finish fifth in the table with 65 points from 42 matches, just one point above seventh-placed Racing Santander outside the playoff places.
Having secured a 1-0 victory at Eldense in the season finale, Gijon now return home, where they are unbeaten in seven of their last nine games, claiming six wins and one draw since the start of February.
Despite their strong end to the season, Espanyol were left feeling disappointed as they failed to clinch an automatic promotion spot.
While Manolo Gonzalez’s men ended the season unbeaten in their final 16 league matches, they played out 10 draws in that time, dropping 20 points along the way.
Espanyol finished fourth in the league standings with 69 points from 42 games, just three points behind second-placed Real Valladolid in the second automatic promotion spot.
Sporting Gijon vs Espanyol Head-To-Head
With seven wins from the last 17 meetings between the sides, Gijon holds a slight upper hand in the history of this fixture. Espanyol have picked up one fewer win in that time, while the spoils were shared on four occasions.
Sporting Gijon Form Guide: W-W-L-W-D
Espanyol Form Guide: W-D-W-D-D
Sporting Gijon vs Espanyol Team News
Sporting Gijon
The hosts will be without midfielder Nacho Méndez, who is currently sidelined due to an injury.
Injured: Nacho Méndez
Suspended: None
Espanyol
As for Espanyol, Gonzalez will be unable to name the duo of Omar Sadik and Eduardo Expósito, who are currently recuperating from hamstring and ligament injuries respectively.
Injured: Omar Sadik, Eduardo Esposito
Suspended: None
Sporting Gijon vs Espanyol Predicted XI
Sporting Gijon Predicted XI (4-4-2): Rubén Yáñez; Guille Rosas, Pablo Insua, Diego Sánchez, José Angel; Fran Villalba, Nacho Martín, Rober Pier, Campos Gaspar; Juan Ferney Otero, Uros Djurdjevic
Espanyol Predicted XI (4-4-2): Joan García; Rubén Sánchez, Fernando Calero, Leandro Cabrera, Óscar Gil; Pere Milla, Álvaro Aguado, Keidi Bare, Rafel Bauzà; Martin Braithwaite, Javi Puado.
Sporting Gijon vs Espanyol Prediction
Gijon and Espanyol will be looking to place one foot in the final and we expect them to go all out in search of a vital first-leg victory. However, we predict they will cancel out each other’s efforts and settle for a share of the spoils, setting up a mouth-watering second leg.
Prediction: Sporting Gijon 1-1 Espanyol