Mallorca-Valladolid

After earning a point in a tough fought match at Malaga, we get a quick turnaround for a midweek game at home against Valladolid, a club who just wrapped up their games with the big four with a nice draw at home to Villarreal. In those four matches they managed to earn one point, so Mallorca knows what is coming, especially if the La Liga title is likely still in doubt when we hit these matches.

While it is not good to get these four matches to wrap up the season, it may be to our benefit as we have a chance to achieve safety against lesser opponents making these games meaningless. No matter who you play, even the bottom teams seem to be tougher to beat the last couple of weeks when they are fighting for survival so it may also be to our benefit to see these games last. It also helps that teams have been having to play us after wrapping up the big four games. They are tired and frustrated but also may expect an easy match. Results have been favorable for us against teams in this situation.

Valladolid, despite this expected lull in gaining points, still sits on 40 points and is pretty much safe. If they can get one more win by the end of the season, they are fine. They no doubt want to do that this weekend. What makes them sit higher up in the standings then the big pack of relegation teams is that they win games against beatable opponents. Whether its Recreativo or Getafe, they win these games. Mix in a recent win against Valencia and they can get whipped on by the big four and still maintain a place in the standings. With leading goal scorer Goitem knocking in 10 goals, this team can score and will give us fits at home.

After getting a point against Malaga, Mallorca now sits at 36 points, four behind Valladolid. They have three weeks to get six points to feel good about the safety of the team. While they had the better chances against Malaga, it took a nice free kick from Arango to earn the draw. Manzano was clearly satisfied with the result although I think he felt the overall performance might have been worthy of a win. With nice crowd support, it was going to be difficult to get a win in that game but it was a vital point indeed.

With the three important games left including Valladolid, Getafe, and Recreativo, with two being at home, if we can win the home games, we should achieve safety regardless of the asswhippings we take in the final four games. Therefore this is a must win game for us and a win will create the momentum necessary to get us to safety in the next two weeks. A loss really puts the pressure on.

With the team knowing the pressure is on them and Valladolid coming in relaxed, albeit tired, we may end up with a problem getting the result. Despite the positions in the standings, our team has more talent then Valladolid. Like Malaga, they have exceeded expectations, but they are still Valladolid, a yoyou club we should beat, especially at home.

With Arango improving and Jurado and Aduriz in support, combined with the understanding this is a must win game, I think the players will step up and deliver a result. With relegation rivals Numancia and Getafe already losing this round, we want to continue to solidify our place in LaLiga for next year. This should be a great game to watch so enjoy!!

Prediction

Mallorca 3-2 Valladolid

Category: Mallorca Team News

Tags: Mallorca Team News

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