Leganes and Girona lock horns in a relegation six-pointer at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in La Liga on Thursday night.
The hosts aided their survival push with a positive result at the weekend, closing the gap on Girona, who fell to yet another defeat on Monday.
Match preview
© Imago
Despite being one of the most out-of-form sides currently embroiled in the relegation battle, Leganes claimed a potentially important point in the push for survival at the weekend, holding European-chasing Mallorca to a 0-0 draw on the road.
That did extend their winless run to six matches though, where they have taken just two points in that time, with fine margins often going against them.
Losing by one goal after taking the lead against Real Madrid, Real Betis and Celta Vigo, while going down by the same margin of defeat to Barcelona, has seen Borja Jimenez's side fall to 19th, but they are still within touching distance of safety.
After that tricky run, though, they now have a kinder set of fixtures to finish the season, with five of their remaining six opponents currently in the bottom half, including three of the other four clubs in the bottom five with them.
One of them is next opponents Girona, and the home crowd will expect more action in the final third than they mustered up away to Mallorca at the weekend, when there were just two shots on target between the sides across 90 minutes.
Therefore, it is no surprise to see that Leganes are one of just two clubs, along with bottom-of-the-table Valladolid, yet to reach 30 goals this season, but they scored three on their trip to Girona earlier this season.
That was not enough for Jimenez's men to take anything, though, as the Blanquivermells ran out 4-3 winners in a thrilling encounter that will give Girona the opportunity to complete a league double over Leganes for just the second time in their history here.
History is in their favour too, because the visitors have never lost on six previous visits to Leganes, losing only one of the last 13 across all venues.
© Imago
However, after qualifying for the Champions League last season, Girona's fall from grace has been extraordinary, now equalling the club record for their longest winless run in the top flight.
A 3-1 defeat at home to Betis on Monday night was a 10th successive match without victory for Michel's men, and they were never in the game at any point, going 3-0 down before the interval in another worrying performance.
The gap between themselves and the dotted line is just three points, and a defeat to 19th-placed Leganes will cut that even further here, so improving on away form that has seen Girona take just one point from their last six matches on the road will be paramount.
That solitary point came at Espanyol, with Girona conceding 14 goals across those six matches, and the fixtures are set to get trickier for them, with Mallorca, Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid all to come in their final five after this midweek encounter.
Team News
© Imago
Leganes will have striker Daniel Raba back from suspension here, and will hope he can replicate his recent good form, with six goals in his last seven starts catapulting him to the top of the club's scoring charts.
Combative midfielder Yvan Neyou was forced off at the weekend, and could join Borna Barisic, Enric Franquesa and Matija Nastasic on the sidelines with injury for this one.
Renato Tapia should be available in the engine room, though, and while he is a vital cog in that machine, scoring is not his forte, with his only club goal in the last six years coming in the reverse fixture.
Girona were able to welcome back defender Miguel Gutierrez after a brief injury setback, but striker Abel Ruiz missed out after playing just two games following his return from a previous injury.
That illustrates the issues Michel has faced in attack this season, where they have been unable to replace the goals of Artem Dovbyk, with 38-year-old Cristhian Stuani being the club's top scorer on eight, despite only playing 20-minute cameos most weeks.
Elsewhere on the treatment table, Bryan Gil is currently missing with a knee problem, while Ricard Artero is sidelined due to an ankle strain.
Leganes possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Rosier, Gonzalez, Saenz, Hernandez; Rodriguez, Tapia, Cisse; Diomande, Garcia, Raba
Girona possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Frances, Krejci, Blind, Gutierrez; Tsygankov, Herrera, Arthur, Van de Beek, Asprilla; Danjuma
We say: Leganes 1-1 Girona
After recording a whopping 81 points last season, Girona will do well to get even half of that tally this time around, with just 34 on the board, ahead of the final six games, and even though they could take something here, their remaining matches look very difficult.
Leganes on the other hand will face many of the clubs in and around the relegation battle, so will be in expectant mood of picking up some results, especially after a hard-fought draw at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
