Valladolid have still no doubt licking their wounds over last weekend’s humiliating seven nil thrashing by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium. They were very unfortunate to be on the receiving end of such a blatant victory, as they aren’t that bad a team and for the first twenty minutes were actually giving Madrid a lot of problems. They now have to pick themselves up and quickly too, as Mallorca are another team who could do them a lot of damage. They have now lost their last three La Liga matches, conceding twelve goals and scoring just once and the three – one defeat away to Deportivo de la Coruña. This poor run of form has seen them drop dramatically from seven place in the league to the thirteenth spot they now occupy, and things could get a lot worse if they don’t start winning soon as they are just three points from the relegation zone.
Mallorca are enjoying a five match unbeaten run at the moment, although four of those games ended in draws. A win against Valladolid would put them on thirty one points where they could forget about the relegation battle at least for a while. The last eight encounters between these two clubs have all but once ended in a win for Mallorca. Valladolid were able to get a draw in the 2002/03 edition of the King’s cup, but crashed out in the return leg by four goals to one. The big problem for Mallorca here will be the absence of their top goal scorer Daniel Güiza, who will miss this match due to a one game suspension for receiving his fifth yellow card during Mallorca’s goalless draw last weekend at home to Almeria. With Cameroon striker Pierre Webó still recovering from his injury, coach Gregorio Manzano has a real problem on his hands finding the right combination up front.
I’m going for a draw in this match. Mallorca are having problems finding the back of the net at the moment, and with Güiza out even more so. He has been responsible for almost half of Mallorca’s goals this season and there isn’t really anyone who can replace him effectively. Valladolid meanwhile will want to put up a wall against Mallorca after their embarrassing Defeat to Real Madrid and I can see this ending goalless.
Prediction: Draw (0-0)