Elche CF face a trip to the RCDE Stadium this Friday with the pressing need to stop a negative run that leaves them bottom of La Liga. The franjiverde side, with just two points from a possible 18, take on Espanyol in the league's seventh matchday.
The team is carrying a difficult run of form, with just one win in their last five league outings. Their last match was a hard-fought 2-3 defeat to Real Madrid at the Martínez Valero, a game in which Fernando Niño and Abiel Osorio found the net for Elche. That loss leaves them with a record of zero wins, two draws and four defeats so far this season, having conceded 16 goals. Striker Fer Niño is the team's top scorer with three goals, a tally the side needs to see increase.
The team has set a target of 180 goal minutes for the upcoming fixture, an effort that could translate into 3 key points for the standings. The pericos, eighth in the table, have shown patchy rather than poor form. They are coming off a 1-2 away loss to Rayo Vallecano, but had secured a 0-2 win in Pamplona before that. They are typically strong at home, making the challenge for Elche a significant one. The Elche manager, without the injured Adam Boayar, is likely to trust a similar bloc to the one that started against Madrid, with Dituro in goal and a midfield of Villar and Aguado trying to control the tempo.
The match kicks off on Friday, September 18 at 21:00 local time. A positive result would be a key boost for an Elche side in urgent need of points. The full squad and their stats are available on our squad page.
