Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano head into Matchday Two of the new La Liga season in search of their first victory as they battle at Estadi Cornella-El Prat on Friday.
Periquitos erased a two-goal deficit to draw Celta Vigo 2-2 in their opener, while Vallecano kept a new-look Barcelona side at bay, drawing them 0-0 at the Camp Nou.
In their second successive campaign in the Spanish top-flight, the club based in Cornella de Llobregat showed a ton of spirit in their opener last weekend, scoring twice in the final 18 minutes plus stoppage time despite firing only two shots on target.
That draw will feel like a win for new manager Diego Martinez who faces a massive challenge to bring consistency to a squad who were in the middle of the table at the halfway point of last season but looked gassed by the end of the campaign, narrowly avoiding relegation.
Martinez has a habit of imprinting his playing personality on a team, though in his first league match, his side looked like the same struggling defensive unit from 2021-22, conceding twice within the opening 63 minutes of play.
Dating back to their previous domestic season, Espanyol are winless in eight consecutive La Liga matches, though they have collected a point in their last three league games.
They conceded the opening goal in all eight of those encounters, while this team have only lost one of their previous seven league fixtures at home.
Historically Periquitos have only dropped one of their last 17 league fixtures against Rayo Vallecano, with that defeat coming last season, 1-0, only the third time that they had failed to find the back of the net at home against the Red and White side.
Rayo Vallecano were one of the stories in the Spanish top-flight over the 2021-22 season, sometimes for the better and at other times for the worse.
Finishing 12th in their first campaign back in La Liga was a satisfying accomplishment, however, it looked like it could have been much better as Los Vallecanos were in an early Champions League position, without a home defeat until Christmas before going winless in 13 straight encounters and flirting with relegation.
Andoni Iraola operates with a high-risk, high-reward approach, relying on extreme attacking width and verticality while using his tireless hard working full-backs to stretch and overload their opponent’s backline.
Vallecano have only lost one of their last five away games in La Liga after losing nine of their previous 11 league fixtures as the visitors, posting three clean sheets, two against Barcelona.
Despite being under their share of pressure in the opening match of the campaign at the Camp Nou, Vallecano held firm on the back end against a Barca attack which, on paper, have as much quality as any European club.
Los Franjirrojos have not lost in their previous five matches versus Catalonian sides, keeping a clean sheet in four of those contests, the longest unbeaten run for them against such teams in the top flight.
Espanyol La Liga form:
D
Rayo Vallecano La Liga form:
D
We say: Espanyol 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
These sides each showed us flashes of brilliance a week ago, but neither were convincing enough to make us believe they had gotten over their consistency issues from the previous campaign, so we expect to see a stalemate in this contest as they are each still finding their footing in the early stages of the season.