La Liga - Round 3 Preview

Saturday SEPTEMBER 17	KO	Sunday SEPTEMBER 18	KO
Sporting Gijon - Valencia	1800	Getafe - Rayo Vallecano	1200
Mallorca - Malaga	1800	Zaragoza - Espanyol	1600
Granada - Villarreal	1800	Atletico Madrid - Racing Santander	1800
Barcelona - Osasuna	2000	Levante - Real Madrid	2000
Sevilla - Real Sociedad	2200	Athletic Bilbao - Real Betis	2000
all kick-offs in CET

Sporting Gijon

vs

Valencia

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Fernandez Lora, Botis, Soto, Canella Eguren, Alvarez Trojo, Castro, Cuevas Sangoy		Guaita Miguel, Rami, Ruiz, Mathieu Albelda, Costa Pablo, Jonas, Piatti  Soldado
TEAM NEWS
Nacho Cases is out after failing to recover from a groin injury. There are question marks over the fitness of Alberto Lora and Ivan Hernandez. If passed fit, Lora should return at right back after serving a one-game suspension against Osasuna.		Bruno is still out for Valencia with Miguel expected to continue in his absence. Miguel recovered from an allergic reaction in time to face Genk, causing Valencia to be delayed on route to Belgium. Soldado will continue his role as the lone striker; he has four goals to his name already this season.

Mallorca

vs

Malaga

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Aouate Zuiverloon, Chico, Ramis Caceres Victor, Pina Alfaro, Tejera, Nsue Tomer Hemed		Willy Gamez, Demichelis, Mathijsen, Eliseu Toulalan, Duda Cazorla, Joaquin Van Nistelrooy, Baptista
TEAM NEWS
Michael Pereira is still out after obtaining a knee injury in an international friendly. Jose Nunes will be out for a further six to eight months as he looks to recover from cruciate ligament damage. Midfielder, Jose Luis Marti is also a doubt for the visit of Malaga.		Weligton & Stadsgaard are both missing for Malaga. Los Boquerones have a new found attacking ability thanks to likes of Santi Cazorla and Joaquin. Ruud Van Nistelrooy is still searching for his first goal in La Liga this term, an will be paired alongside Julio Baptista for the first time.

Granada

vs

Villarreal

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Roberto Nyom, Diakhate, Mainz, Siqueira Abel, Yebda Jara, Carlos Martins, Dani Benitez Uche		Cesar Zapata, Gonzalo, Musacchio, Joan Oriol Marchena, Bruno Camunas, Borja Valero, Cani Rossi
TEAM NEWS
Granada can take one positive heading into the match against Villarreal: they have just two players missing. Defender David Cortes and goalkeeper Juan Jose are the only injured players for Granada. Striker Geijo is already training with the team and he could be back against Villarreal.		Cesar will replace Diego Lopez, who got a red card against Sevilla las week. Cani and Camunas were on the bench in the Champions League fixture but impressed after coming on in the second-half. Gonzalo was rested against Bayern but is expected to replace Mario with Zapata shifting to right-back.

Barcelona

vs

Osasuna

Pep Guardiola's Barcelona will be looking to rebound from two straight draws when they hosts undefeated Osasuna on Saturday to put the pressure on leaders Real Madrid, who play on Sunday.

Sevilla

vs

Real Sociedad

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Varas Caceres, Escude, Alexis, Navarro Trochowski, Medel Navas, Rakitic, Perotti Negredo		Bravo C. Martinez, I. Martinez, Demidov, Bella Illarramendi, Mariga Prieto, Zurutuza, Vela Agirretxe
TEAM NEWS
Marcelino has his entire squad at his disposable for the visit of Sociedad. Ivan Rakitic played for the first time on Saturday after a long spell out and should be able to start for Sevilla. Negredo continued his form with a goal at El Madrigal despite missing a penalty in the same match.		Borja Viguera is unavailable for the match against Sevilla after failing to regain fitness. Midfielder Bergara is also unavailable for the match against Marcelino's men. Agirretxe is one of the in-form strikers so far this season netting his third of the season in the 2-2 draw against Barcelona.