Rayo Vallecano vs Espanyol: La Liga Records, Stats, Head to Head, and everything to know

Rayo Vallecano will host Espanyol in a La Liga fixture at Estado de Vallecas on Sunday afternoon. The hosts are currently occupying 11th spot in the Spanish top flight, standings having collected 46 points from 34 games, four adrift of seventh-placed Athletic Club who have played a game more. The visitors, meanwhile, are languishing at the 19th position, with 31 points to their name, four away from safety. The Catalonia outfit need to secure some positive results from their remaining games against Rayo, Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Almeria, to have any chance of extending their stay in the La Liga for at least one more season.

𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗮 ⚡#RayoEspanyol #VamosRayo pic.twitter.com/IPdEv2VDWy

— Rayo Vallecano (@RayoVallecano) May 20, 2023

Rayo are heading into the match on the back of a 3-1 defeat away to Real Betis last Monday. The Red stripes suffered their 12th league defeat of the season at Benito Villamarin despite the fact that Santi Comesana found the back of the net early in the second half. Prior to that, Franjirrojos got the better of Real Valladolid 2-1 thanks to goals from Raul de Tomas and Sergio Camello. It was their 12th top flight victory of the campaign. Meanwhile, it was Andoni Iraola’s side’s third consecutive home-victory and they have now taken 29 points from 17 league-fixture at Estadio de Vallecas. Rayo have never finished higher than eighth in Spain’s top flight, and with four games remaining, they have a chance to create history, with a European Conference League spot well within their grasp at this stage.

Espanyol, on the other hand, finished 14th in the La Liga Santander last term on their return to the top flight, but they are now in serious danger of dropping down to the second tier of next term. Luis Garcia’s men have won only one of their last 11 matches in the league, while losing nine times in the period, and that lone success came against Getafe towards the end of April. Last weekend, Parakeets would have loved nothing more than to prevent their city rivals Barcelona winning the title last weekend, but suffered their 17th top flight defeat of the season to Xavi’s side, with a scoreline of 4-2, which further increased their relegation fears. Javi Puado and Joselu scored two consolation goals in the final 20 minutes of the match at Cornella-el Prat. On a positive note, Espanyol attacking department has been in pretty good form, with Joselu on 15 league-goals for the campaign and Martin Braithwaite on nine, therefore the onus will be on these two goal-poachers to get Luis Garcia’s side over the line before the end of the season.

Rayo Vallecano vs Espanyo: Records, Stats and Goals

Rayo have won their last three top-flight matches against Espanyol without conceding, including a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture between the two sides back in August last year. Goals from Isi Palazon and Pathe Ciss helped the Red Stripes get the better of Parakeets at Cornella-El Prat and it was their 11th victory against Espanyol in 39 encounters. Although, the Blue and Whites have lost their last six meetings against Los Franjirrojos, they have still got the upper hand when it comes to the head-to-head record, having prevailed on 16 occasions.

Head to Head

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