The Monday night match in La Liga comes from Sevilla and which to a certain extent is a club in crisis, with Quique Setien rumored to be on the sidelines at Real Betis after a serious decline in form since the turn of the year. Espanyol will hope to accumulate pressure on the former Las Palmas boss here, although there isn't much that is at stake in this game with both teams heading to finish in the middle of the board.
The main story here is Betis. Setien did a brilliant job last season in guiding them to Europe and finishing the league above city rivals Sevilla. Everything seems to be going pretty well this season too, but things are slowly breaking down, with fans starting to turn against their coaches for reasons more than bad results. Last week's 4-0 loss at Levante who was struggling felt like that might be the last and Setien could expect a very hostile reaction if there was no response from his team here.
Espanyol temporarily took a reasonable form in this game, having not lost one of their last 5 matches. They have a solid season rather than a spectacular season which is generally their style but Rubi will be able to reflect on a decent first year at Barcelona. They have the same points as Betis towards this match but will be happy this is the right time to play them.
Overall supporting visitors to get something from the game seems to be the way to go. They have not lost in La Liga since the Barcelona derby at the end of March and only 1 of their last 7 away matches ended in a 90-minute defeat. The sequence began at Benito Villamarin against Betis, where they were only defeated at Extra-Time in the Copa del Rey.
Since then, Betis has been totally messy and has lost track of many things they have done well. They beat Atleti right after the cup match but only 3 wins in 16 competitive matches since then. 59% of their league matches in 2019 have ended in defeat and it's not close enough, considering they have genuine quality in their rankings.
Supporting the Lottery can be worth a kick here, with Betis low on confidence now against the Espanyol team who have drawn 9 of their last 16 in all competitions (only 90 minutes).
Real Betis vs Espanyol: Head-to-head
The visitors led the head to head match with seven wins coming to the 45th meeting with Real Betis.
The two fought to get a place in the Copa Del Rey semifinals in January this year.
Both legs ended in a 1-1 draw, but Los Beticos advanced thanks to two goals in extra time.
Real Betis were also top of the league match by beating Budgerigars 1-3 at the RCDE Stadium in mid-December last year.
Predicted Formation
3-5-2 Real Calf
4-3-3 Espanyol