La Liga Round 4 - Preview

Tuesday SEPTEMBER 20	KO	Wednesday SEPTEMBER 21	KO
Osasuna - Sevilla	2000	Atletico Madrid - Sporting Gijon	2000
Real Sociedad - Granada	2000	Malaga - Athletic Bilbao	2000
Villarreal - Mallorca	2200	Racing Santander - Real Madrid	2000
		Rayo Vallecano - Levante	2000
		Valencia - Barcelona	2200
		Thursday SEPTEMBER 22	KO
		Espanyol - Getafe	2000
all kick-offs in CET		Betis - Zaragoza	2200

Osasuna

vs

Sevilla

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
FernandezRaitala, Roversio, Flano, Bertran Lama, Punal, Raul Garcia Cejudo, Sola, Nino		Varas Caceres, Escude, Alexis, Navarro Trochowski, Medel Navas, Rakitic, Perotti Negredo
KEY FACTS
Osasuna's 8-0 defeat to Barcelona on Saturday was their worst ever result against the Catalan club Coach Jose Luis Mendilibar claimed after the game that his side were already looking ahead to this match by half-time, when they were 5-0 down at Camp Nou Iranian midfielder Javad Nekounam could return from injury		Sevilla are currently fourth in the table, having picked up two wins and a draw in their first three games Frederic Kanoute, who scored the winner against Real Sociedad at the weekend, also celebrated his 100th Primera Division win Sevilla failed to land Giovani dos Santos in the summer, but could return for the Mexican in January

Real Sociedad

vs

Granada

DID YOU KNOW?
Bravo C. Martinez, I. Martinez, Demidov, Bella Illarramendi, Mariga Prieto, Zurutuza, Vela Agirretxe		Roberto Nyom, Diakhate, Mainz, Siqueira Abel, Yebda Jara, Carlos Martins, Dani Benitez Uche
KEY FACTS
Strikers Joseba Llorente and Carlos Vela return for Real Sociedad, but Xabi Prieto and David Zurutuza miss out through injury This is Real Sociedad's second season back in the top flight Young striker Imanol Agirretxe, who barely featured last term, has scored three of his side's four goals this season		Founded in 1931, Granada had spent 16 seasons in Spain's top flight prior to this one, including an eight-year stay between 1968 and 1976 Granada were promoted via the new play-off system last season, having finished in fifth place Granada beat Villarreal at the weekend with a goal from Uche, who is on loan from the Yellow Submarine

Villarreal

vs

Mallorca

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Cesar Zapata, Gonzalo, Musacchio, Joan Oriol Marchena, Bruno Camunas, Borja Valero, Cani Rossi		Aouate Zuiverloon, Chico, Ramis Caceres Victor, Pina Alfaro, Tejera, Nsue Tomer Hemed
KEY FACTS
Villarreal have finished in the top seven in each of the last seven seasons The Yellow Submarine have just one point from three games so far this term, however. Goalkeeper Diego Lopez said: "We have the ability to turn things around in the the next few games."		Mallorca began the season by beating Espanyol, but have since lost to Betis and Malaga All of those three league games have been decided by a single goal, with Mallorca scoring only once this term Coach Michael Laudrup is reported to be under threat, particularly if his side lose this match

Atletico Madrid

vs

Sporting Gijon

KEY FACTS
Courtois Silvio, Miranda, Dominguez, Luis Gabi, Tiago Reyes, Diego, Turan Falcao		Fernandez Lora, Botis, Soto, Canella Eguren, Alvarez Trojo, Castro, De Las Cuevas Barral
TEAM NEWS
Colombian striker Radamel Falcao was the league's most expensive summer signing, arriving from Porto at a cost of €40 million Falcao opened his Atletico account with a goal in the Europa League against Celtic and added a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Racing Santander In total, the club brought in 10 new players over the summer		Sporting are the only team in La Liga not to have picked up a single point so far this season Forward Nacho Novo picked up a knock in the weekend defeat at home to Valencia and is doubtful Sporting are in their fourth season back in the top flight in Spain, having spent the previous 10 campaigns in the Segunda Division

Malaga

vs

Athletic Bilbao

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Willy Gamez, Demichelis, Mathijsen, Eliseu Toulalan, Duda Cazorla, Joaquin Van Nistelrooy, Baptista		Iraizoz Iraola, Amorebieta, Ekiza, Marcos Gurpegi, Iturraspe Muniain, Martinez, Susaeta Llorente
KEY FACTS
Malaga have won two out of three of their opening games and move into the top six after the weekend win at Mallorca Striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is still looking for his first goal after returning to Spain in the summer Malaga's first and only home game so far this term was a resounding 4-0 victory over Granada		Athletic Bilbao have picked up just one point from their three games, despite the arrival of respected coach Marcelo Bielsa in the summer Striker Fernando Llorente will play his 250th competitive game for Athletic against Malaga Llorente, a World Cup winner with Spain last summer, has scored 85 goals for the Basque outfit

Racing Santander

vs

Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho's side will look to return to winning ways in this match after Sunday's disappointing 1-0 defeat at Levante, in which midfielder Sami Khedira was sent off. A full preview of this fixture can be found here

Rayo Vallecano

vs

Levante

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Gimenez Tito, Arribas, Figueras, Casado Fuego, Movilla, Trashorras, Michu, Botelho Piti		Munua Javi Venta, Ballesteros, Nano, Juanfran X. Torres, Iborra Valdo, Barkero, Juanlu Kone
KEY FACTS
Rayo Vallecano have scored just twice so far this season in their return to the top flight, but have let in just one and are unbeaten with five points from their three games Rayo's promotion means there are four Madrid-based sides in Spain's top flight for the first time ever. Atletico, Real and Getafe are the others Summer signing Koke is fit again and could return for this match		Levante have also picked up a win and two draws, having shocked Real Madrid with a 1-0 success at the Ciutat de Valencia on Sunday Those five points have seen the Valencia-based side climb to seventh, which represents the club's best-ever start to a season in the top flight Summer signing Carlos Aranda made an impressive cameo appearance in that match and could feature more prominently in this match

Valencia

vs

Barcelona

Pep Guardiola's Barcelona returned to form with a stunning 8-0 win at home to Osasuna on Saturday night, but face a tough test against the league leaders at Mestalla. A full preview of this fixture can be found here

Espanyol

vs

Getafe

PROBABLE LINE-UP
Alvarez Galan, Moreno, Forlin, Didac Romaric, Marquez, Baena, Thievy Alvaro, Sergio Garcia		Moya Torres, Lopo, Diaz, Masilela Pedro Leon, J. Rodriguez, Lacen, Sarabia Guiza, Miku
TEAM NEWS
Espanyol won their first home game, 2-1 over Athletic Bilbao, but have lost their other two matches Midfielder Joan Verdu misses out through injury, while full-back Javi Lopez is suspended Espanyol's 2-1 defeat at Zaragoza at the weekend was made even more painful by the fact that both goals were scored by the Catalans' former player Luis Garcia		Getafe have picked up just one point from their first three matches this season and disappointly lost 1-0 at home to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday Coach Luis Garcia is unconcerned by his side's poor start. "He who laughs last, laughs louder," he said. Striker Adrian Colunga is unlikely to feature after storming off the bench and upsetting his coach in the loss to Rayo at the weekend

Betis

vs

Zaragoza

PROBABLE LINE-UP
Castro Chica, Amaya, Dorado, Perez Etxebarria, Iriney Vadillo, Sevilla, Montero Santa Cruz		Roberto Silva, Lanzaro, Meira Juarez, Pinter, Ponzio, Abraham Barrera, Lafita Postiga
TEAM NEWS
Betis have won their opening three matches and sit joint top of the Primera Division alongside Valencia Striker Ruben Castro, who scored the winners in his side's opening two games, could return after missing the win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday through injury With Betis second and Sevilla fourth, there are two teams from Seville in the top four at the moment		Zaragoza's 2-1 success at home to Espanyol at the weekend came thanks to a 91st-minute winner from Lui Garcia, who had missed a penatly moments earlier The Aragonese outfit has won just six of 42 games away to Betis Summer signing Helder Postiga has been unable to train ahead of this match, but looks set to feature in Andalucia