These teams are the antipodes: Malaga have scored only 30 and conceded only 30 goals this season while Rayo Vallecano always both score and concede a lot. The Madrid club now top the charts for number of goals conceded in the Primera (65) just as they did in two previous seasons. They’ve also scored 45 goals (7th highest in the league).
Malaga came away with a 2:1 victory at Estadio de Vallecas in the previous match against Rayo. And before that it was 4:0 and 5:0 to Malaga in two games at La Rosaleda. It is evident that Malaga have enjoyed a superiority over tonight’s rivals in recent times. They’re a very tough side defensively, playing with counter attacks and they can surely crush all of Rayo’s poor defensive lines.
It’s the second home game for Malaga in four days and it was Sunday when they lost to Athletic Bilbao 0:1. It was a bit unexpected because the Basque team seemed to be tired after the 120-minute game against Sevilla in the Europa League. But the stats suggest it was just a case of bad luck for Malaga: shots – 17:5, shots on goal – 8:2, corners – 8:2. They must now regain the winning thread against Vallecano.
I see a comfortable Malaga win here. But only once in their last ten have Rayo failed to score, so Malaga to win and both teams to score at 3.75 looks a good bet.