Sports Mole previews Monday's Segunda Division clash between Cultural Leonesa and Albacete, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Cultural Leonesa will be looking to claim back-to-back victories when they welcome Albacete to the Estadio Reino de León for Monday's clash in the Segunda Division.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be aiming to continue their impressive run of form after putting together a three-game unbeaten run.
Match preview
Cultural Leonesa are competing in the Spanish second tier for the first time since 2017-18 after Raul Llona guided them to promotion last season.
However, Cultural Leonesa have shown there is little room for sentiment, dismissing their promotion-winning coach after seeing their opening six matches produce four defeats, one draw and just one win.
They subsequently appointed former Athletic Club boss Jose Angel Ziganda, who is back in football management for the first time since leaving Huesca in October 2023.
The 59-year-old made a positive start to his tenure, overseeing a narrow 1-0 away victory over regional rivals Real Valladolid thanks to Diego Collado's sixth-minute effort.
That result represented a second successive win on the road for Cultural Leonesa, although they are still languishing in the bottom four of the Segunda Division.
As one of five teams yet to win a home game in the second tier, the newly-promoted side will be desperate to claim maximum points in their first meeting with Albacete in seven years.
In contrast to their hosts, Albacete are regular operators at this level of the Spanish football pyramid, having competed outside the second tier in just one of their last nine seasons.
The Queso Mecanico will have ambitions of building upon last season's 10th-place finish, as they continue to dream of returning to the promise of La Liga for the first time since 2004-05.
Albacete are currently down in 16th place in the standings, but they have seemingly sparked an upturn in fortunes since beginning the campaign with two draws and four defeats.
Alberto Gonzalez's side claimed their first win of the season via a 2-0 scoreline in their home clash against Real Valladolid, before they staged a stunning comeback to take maximum points from their seven-goal thriller against Sporting Gijon.
Antonio Puertas and Agus Medina kick started a fightback from three goals down, before Jon Morcillo scored in the 88th and 99th minute to seal a dramatic 4-3 victory in Gijon, representing the club's first away win since beating the same team back in March.
While he would have been delighted to see his team snatch all three points, Gonzalez will be concerned by the fact that his side have now shipped 16 goals in their opening seven matches.
Cultural Leonesa Segunda Division form:
L L D W L W
Albacete Segunda Division form:
L L L D W W
Team News
The hosts are expected to be without Quique Fornos, Eneko Satrustegui, Sergi Maestre and Rafael Tresaco due to injury.
Former Real Zaragoza defender Ivan Calero is set to miss a second game through suspension after being sent off in last month's defeat to Castellon.
If there are no fresh injury concerns, Ziganda could opt for consistency by selecting an unchanged lineup for his first home match in charge.
As for the visitors, midfielder Antonio Pacheco and winger Victor Valverde are both at risk of missing the away trip through injury.
A late decision will also be made about whether Pepe will be ready to start after he was not risked for the recent win over Sporting Gijon.
Forward Higinio Marin has completed a four-match ban and is set to provide an option off the bench in Monday's fixture.
Cultural Leonesa possible starting lineup:
Badia; Garcia, Suarez, Ribeiro, Hinojo; Pibe, Ojeda, Bicho, Collado; Chacon, Sobrino
Albacete possible starting lineup:
Lizoain; Gamez, Moreno, Vallejo, Neva; Rodriguez, Melendez; Puertas, Medina, Morcillo; Betancor
We say: Cultural Leonesa 1-1 Albacete
We expect Monday's fixture to be a close-fought contest, and combining the fact that Cultural Leonesa are yet to a win game with the fact that Albacete have drawn two of their four away matches, we think the matchup will produce a score draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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