Malaga vs Espanyol Preview

Bottom meets 15th at La Rosaleda on Friday night, and with only four points separating the sides, this already carries the weight of an early-season survival scrap. Malaga are the only team in La Liga still without a win after seven games, sitting 20th on three points with just three league goals scored all season. Espanyol are hardly comfortable either: four defeats from seven have left them only two points clear of the bottom three, and they arrive on the back of two straight losses. The visitors’ record against Malaga, though, could hardly be more one-sided, with five wins from five meetings in the sample. For the hosts, a first league win of the campaign would lift them out of the bottom three on current standings; for Espanyol, three points would open up a five-point gap over the drop zone. Espanyol’s last league win came on 12 September, Malaga are still waiting for their first, and the hosts have scored in only two of their last five, so the first goal could matter more than usual here.

Malaga have failed to win any of their last five, losing three and drawing two, and the most recent setback was a 1-0 defeat away to Getafe on 20 September. Three days earlier they were beaten 3-1 at La Rosaleda by Villarreal, one of only two games in the run in which they scored. Back-to-back draws sit behind those defeats, 1-1 away to Celta Vigo and 0-0 at home to Levante, while the oldest result in the sample is a 4-0 loss away to Real Madrid at the end of August. That adds up to two goals scored and nine conceded across the five games, and the goalless draw with Levante is their only clean sheet in the run. Two defeats on the bounce have stretched their winless league start to seven games, and they have not scored more than once in any league game this season.

Espanyol’s last five have produced one win, one draw and three defeats, and they head into this one on consecutive losses. The latest was a 3-1 home defeat to Elche on 18 September, and three days before that they lost 2-1 away to Rayo Vallecano. Their only win in the run came away to Osasuna, 2-0 on 12 September, which was also their only clean sheet of the five. Further back, a 1-1 home draw with Sevilla and a 2-1 defeat away to Real Sociedad round off the sample. Across those games Espanyol scored six and conceded eight; they found the net in all five but were breached in four. Their seven points from seven games is the same total as Celta de Vigo and Racing Santander, with goal difference the only thing separating the three sides.

This fixture has belonged entirely to Espanyol in the sample: five meetings, five wins, no draws and an aggregate score of 14-1. The most recent was a 3-0 home win in La Liga 2 in May 2021, and the meeting before that went the same way, Espanyol winning 3-0 away in November 2020. Malaga have failed to score in four of the five, their only goal coming in a 4-1 defeat away in May 2018. La Rosaleda has offered the hosts no comfort either, with Espanyol winning both meetings there, 3-0 in November 2020 and 1-0 in January 2018. The remaining meeting was a 3-0 Espanyol win in a club friendly in September 2020.

Malaga sit 20th on three points, four behind 15th-placed Espanyol on seven. A win would take Malaga to six points and, on current standings, lift them out of the bottom three into 17th, while an Espanyol win would move them to 10 points, level with Deportivo La Coruña and Real Sociedad.

In Spain, the game is live on DAZN Spain, DAZN LaLiga, Movistar+ and LaLiga TV Bar HD. UK viewers can watch on LaLigaTV and Premier Sports Player, while in the USA it’s on ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, the ESPN App and fuboTV. Elsewhere, DAZN covers it in Germany, France and Italy, TSN Premium has it in Canada, and Australian viewers can tune in on beIN SPORTS 2 and beIN Sports Connect, with Sky Sports Mexico, Sky+ and izzi carrying the game in Mexico.

Possible Lineups

Malaga — Form

Espanyol — Form

Head-to-Head

Where to Watch

Table

La Liga Standings