La Liga Round 12 Preview: Athletic Bilbao travels to Sevilla, Racing hosts Malaga

Following an impressive 2-2 draw against Barcelona, Marcelo Bielsa's side travels to Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with both teams chasing a top four finish.

Nov 18, 2011 11:00:00 AM

By Daniel Quinton-Navarro

More On :  Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Betis, Ciudad de Murcia, Espanyol, Getafe, Levante, Malaga, Mallorca, Osasuna, Racing , Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Sporting Gijon, Valencia, Villarreal, Zaragoza
Athletic Bilbao, Liga BBVA (Getty Images)


La Liga: Round 12 Preview

Saturday NOVEMBER 19
 KO
 Sunday NOVEMBER 20
 KO
Villarreal - Real Betis
 12:00 Real Sociedad - Espanyol
 6:00
Barcelona - Zaragoza
 2:00 Osasuna - Rayo Vallecano
 10:00
Valencia - Real Madrid
 4:00
 Sporting Gijon - Getafe
 10:00
    Sevilla - Athletic Bilbao
 12:00
    Atletico Madrid - Levante
 2:00
    Granada - Mallorca
 4:00

  Monday NOVEMBER 21
 KO
all kickoffs in ET   Racing Santander - Malaga
 3:00

Villarreal
 vs Real Betis

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Lopez
Angel, Marchena, Musacchio, Catala
Bruno
Valero, Guzman, Camunas
Perez, Ruben

  

 
Casto
Isidoro, Ustaritz, Dorado, Perez
Canas, Etxebarria, Iriney
Castro, Molina, Pozuelo
TEAM NEWS
  • Villarreal registered its second consecutive clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against Espanyol last time out.
  • The international break came at the right time for Villarreal which is able to include Marcos Senna, Javier Camunas and Carlos Marchena in the squad after all had injury concerns before the break.
  • Garrido is still without his two first-choice strikers, Giuseppe Rossi - who is out for up to six month - and Nilmar. Cani, like the Brazilian, is still two or three months away from returning.

 

  
  • Real Betis secured its first point in six matches with a respectable 0-0 draw against Malaga.
  • There are continued doubts over Mario and Antonio Amaya, and both could miss their third straight game.
  • Momo and Alvaro Vadillo are both unavailable due to injury, while Roque Santa Cruz is not a certainty for the trip to El Madrigal. 

Barcelona
 vs Zaragoza
                                                               
Pep Guardiola will hope his side can replicate Real Madrid's impressive 6-0 victory over Zaragoza when it welcomes them to Camp Nou on Saturday at 2:00 ET.

A full preview of this fixture can be found here.

Valencia
 vs Real Madrid
                                                               
Valencia welcomes current league leader Real Madrid to the Mestalla as Unai Emery's side hopes to close the gap opening up between the big two and the chasing pack.

A full preview of this fixture can be found here.

Real Sociedad
 vs Espanyol

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Bravo
Martinez, Demidov, Gonzalez, Cadamuro
Illarramendi, Mariga
Prieto, Zurutuza, Griezmann
Agirretxe

  

 
Alvarez
Galan, Moreno, Rodriguez, Didac
Datolo, Baena
Garcia, Romaric, Verdu
Alvaro
TEAM NEWS
  • Real Sociedad has gone seven matches without registering a victory, its last match ending in a 4-0 defeat.
  • Inigo Martinez is unavailable after being sent off against Rayo in the last match.
  • Markel Bergara and Alberto De La Bella both picked up injuries in the defeat to Rayo and will be out for around a month as a result. 

  
  • Espanyol failed to break down a determined Villarreal side in its last outing, the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate.
  • Defender Juan Forlin was shown a red card against Villarreal and will consequently miss the trip to Sociedad.
  • Javier Marquez and Javi Lopez are both doubts for the match due to injury.

 

Osasuna
 vs Rayo Vallecano

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Andres
Bertan, Lolo, Roversio, Raitala
Punal, Garcia, Nekounam
Lamah, Ibrahima
Nino

  

 
Cobeno
Tito, Arribas, Figueras, Casado
Fuego, Movilla
Piti, Michu, Lass
Koke
TEAM NEWS
  • Osasuna was comprehensively beaten by Real Madrid 7-1 before the international break and will hope to quickly bounce back against Rayo.
  • Eneko Satrustegui saw red against Real Madrid inside an hour, while also giving away a penalty kick.
  • Mendilibar welcomes back injured trio Roland Lamah, Marc Bertran and Roversio for the match against Rayo.

 
  • Rayo enjoyed a 4-0 victory over Sociedad in the club's last outing with Piti, Roberto Trashorras and a double from Michu the goal scorers.
  • Tito is expected to start for Rayo despite picking up a knock in the club's last match.
  • Coach, Ramon Sandoval will once again be in the stands for this match - this his second of a two game ban from the touchline.

Sporting Gijon
 vs Getafe

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Pablo
Lora, Botia, Hernandez, Canella
Rivera, Cases
Trejo, Castro, Cuevas
Bilic

  

 
Moya
Torres, Rafa, Diaz, Mane
Lacen, Michel
Valera, Sarabia, Rios
Guiza
TEAM NEWS
  • Sporting Gijon conceded a late equalizer against Zaragoza to draw its last match 2-2.
  • Ayoza and David Barral are both doubts for the match after picking up injuries during training in the week.
  • Sporting Gijon has the worst home record in the league, picking up just five points in its matches at El Molinon.
 
  • Getafe secured a dramatic 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid before the international break with Diego Castro converting an 82nd-minute penalty to steal all three points.
  • Lopo was shown a red card against Atletico forcing Getafe to play over an hour of that match with 10 men.
  • Getafe has lost on its last two visits to El Molinon.

Sevilla
 vs Athletic Bilbao

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Varas
Coke, Caceres, Escude, Navarro
Trochowski, Fazio
Navas, Moral, Rakitic
Negredo

  

 
Iraizoz
Iraola, Jose, Ekiza, Aurtenetxe
Ander, Martinez
Susaeta, Muniain, Marcos
Llorente
TEAM NEWS
  • Sevilla succumbed to its fourth 0-0 draw of the season after struggling against Mallorca last time out.
  • The Andalucians will line up without Gary Medel who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season resulting in a one-match ban.
  • Marcelino could welcome back Alvaro Negredo to the starting lineup after the Spanish striker recovered from injury. 




  
  • Athletic become the fourth team to take points off Barcelona in a pulsating 2-2 draw at San Mames.
  • Fernando Amorebieta picked up a late red card against Guardiola's side meaning the defender will miss this match, while midfielder Iturraspe picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.
  • Javi Martinez withdrew from the Spain squad due a to muscular injury, while Fernando Llorente picked up a minor injury while on international duty, but both are still expected to feature against Sevilla.

Atletico Madrid
 vs Levante
                                                               
Levante faces a daunting task when it visits the Vicente Calderon as Juan Martinez's side looks to prevent slipping to its third consecutive defeat. Kickoff is at 2:00 ET.

A full preview of this fixture can be found here.

Granda
 vs Mallorca

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Roberto
Nyom, Lopez, Mainz, Siqueira
Rico, Gomez
Romero, Martins, Benitez
Geijo

  

 
Aouate
Cendros, Chico, Victor, Bigas
Tissone, Tereja, Pina
Nsue, Castro
Hemed
TEAM NEWS
  • Granda is placed lowly 19th in La Liga having scored just four goals all season - the lowest of all teams in the league, yet it boasts the best defensive record in the bottom half. Unsurprisingly, the club's last match ended 0-0.
  • Fran Rico is sidelined after suffering a muscular tear against Racing.
  • Fabri Gonzalez's men have failed to score in their last three home matches.
 
  • Mallorca earned a 0-0 draw against Sevilla in its last match. 
  • Ivan Ramis will miss the trip to Granada after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season meaning he is suspended for this match.
  • Juan Caparros is still without Jose Carlos Nunes, Kevin and Pablo Caceres.




Racing Santander
 vs Malaga

PROBABLE LINEUPS

 
Ramirez
Francis, Gonzalez, Torrejon, Fernandez
Arana, Diop, Adrian, Munitis
Kone
Stuani

  

 
Caballero
Gamez, Demichells, Mathijsen, Eliseu
Toulalan, Duda
Joaquin, Cazorla, Isco
Nistelrooy
TEAM NEWS
  • Racing is looking for its fourth match without defeat against Malaga, last time out Racing drew 0-0 with Granada.
  • Striker Ariel is suspended for the match against Malaga, while Racing welcomes back Diop from a ban.
  • Racing is without injured trio Lautaro Acosta, Kennedy and Jairo - who will be out for at least a month. 

  
  • Like its opponent Malaga could only muster a goalless draw last time against Real Betis in the Andalucian derby.
  • Malaga has several injury worries with Julio Baptista and Kris Stadsgaard notable absentees.
  • Manuel Pellegrini may opt to rotate his squad somewhat with a few players returning from long-distance travel after the international break.

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