Almería vs Alaves prediction 26.01.2024

• Competition: La Liga
• Date: Friday, 26th January 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
• Venue: Power Horse Stadium (Almería)

On Friday evening, the worst team in La Liga, Almeria, will welcome Alaves in the 22nd round of the Spanish La Liga at the Power Horse Stadium in Almería.

Last season, Almeria barely secured survival, finishing just one point away from the relegation zone. This season, the Andalusian team is really struggling, and it would take a miracle for them to escape relegation if they continue with such poor results. Currently, they are 20th in the league with only six points, already ten away from the 17th-placed Sevilla and the safe zone. Additionally, Almeria are the only winless team in La Liga this season! 

Alaves secured an instant return to the Spanish top-flight division last year but had to go through the La Liga 2 playoffs. However, Alaves are doing great this season, surprising many football experts. Right now, they are 12th with 23 points, eight points away from the danger zone. Also, Alaves had a good run in the Copa del Rey, reaching the 1/8 Finals. Unfortunately for the popular Babazorros, they played vs Bilbao (one of the best Spanish teams this season) and eventually lost 2:0 away from home. 

Almeria vs Alaves pick: Under 2.5 goals

Almeria are playing an absolutely terrible season, and their only win came against the four-tier team, CF Talavera, in the Cup. Their offense has been really bad, as they scored only five goals in the last eight games. Interestingly, their goals came against really good teams (Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid), while they struggled against mediocre or poor teams. Their defense was terrible throughout the season, but we could see a big improvement in recent home games. In the last three games vs Girona, Mallorca, and Betis, they kept a clean sheet as all three matches finished as goalless draws. 

Alaves are one of the teams that mostly plays low-scoring games. Their offense, with 19 scored goals, is tied with Mallorca for the second-worst, only better than Cadiz. However, a good defense keeps them pretty high on the league's table. Because of a poor offense and pretty good defense, 71.4% of their La Liga games (six of 15) finished with fewer than three goals. 

In the first h2h game, Alaves won 1:0. Considering all the above, we believe that an under 2.5 goals bet is the best choice for this tie.