Preview: Alaves vs. Elche - prediction, team news, lineups

Alaves will be looking to make it back-to-back victories in La Liga when they welcome Elche to Estadio de Mendizorroza on Tuesday night.

The home side will enter the contest off the back of a 2-0 victory over Cadiz on Saturday, while Elche played out a 2-2 draw with Espanyol in their last match in Spain's top flight.

Match preview

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Alaves have won two and lost seven of their nine league matches this season to collect six points, which has left them in 18th position in the table, but they will enter Tuesday night's fixture off the back of a positive result.

Indeed, a brace from Joselu saw the Basque outfit record a two-goal win over Cadiz on Saturday, while they also beat the champions Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the end of September.

El Glorioso are actually in their sixth straight season at this level of football, but they have ended the last two campaigns in 16th position, and it appears that the team will face a battle to avoid relegation this term.

Javier Calleja's side will be wary of suffering a disappointing result in this match considering that two of their next four opponents in the league are Barcelona and Sevilla.

Alaves recorded a 2-0 victory over Elche when the two teams last locked horns in May, but they suffered a 2-0 loss in the corresponding clash between the sides last term.

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Elche, meanwhile, played out a 2-2 draw with Espanyol on Saturday, with Dario Benedetto coming off the bench to secure a share of the spoils for the home team at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.

A record of two wins, four draws and four defeats from 10 matches has seen Los Franjiverdes collect 10 points, which has left them in 14th position in the table.

Elche only just survived an immediate relegation back to the Segunda Division last season, with a total of 36 points from 38 matches seeing them finish 17th, just two points above the bottom three.

Fran Escriba's team will be looking to beat the teams around them this season as they bid to stay in the top tier, and there is no downplaying the importance of Tuesday's contest, particularly considering that their next game after this one is at home to title hopefuls Real Madrid.

Team News

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Alaves have no confirmed absentees for Tuesday night's contest, meaning that Calleja has plenty of decisions to make when it comes to team selection.

Pere Pons impressed off the bench against Cadiz and could now come into the starting side, potentially taking the place of Manu Garcia, which was the alteration that occurred on Saturday.

It could otherwise be the same team that took to the field for the first whistle against Cadiz, though, with on-loan Manchester United attacker Facundo Pellistri set to feature on the right once again.

Elche's squad is also in excellent shape, and the visitors could also have a full set of players to choose from providing that there are no setbacks in training ahead of the game.

Benedetto came off the bench to score an equaliser against Espanyol on Saturday, and the Argentine could replace Lucas Perez in the final third of the field.

Pere Milla and Tete Morente are also pushing to be involved from the start, but head coach Escriba is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack despite the relatively quick turnaround.

Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Navarro, Miazga, Laguardia, Duarte; Loum, Moya; Pellistri, Pons, Rioja; Joselu

Elche possible starting lineup:
Casilla; Barragan, Verdu, Bigas, Mojica; Fidel, Guti, Mascarell, Pastore; Boye, Benedetto

We say: Alaves 1-1 Elche

This is a very difficult match to call, and it would not be a surprise to see a home or an away victory on Tuesday night. There is not an awful lot between the two sides in terms of quality, though, and we are expecting a tight contest, so have had to settle on a low-scoring draw at Estadio de Mendizorroza.