Espanyol vs Alaves Prediction: Goals to come in the second half

| Friday 30th January 2026, 8:51am

Friday 30th January 2026, 8:51am

A new matchweek in Spain's top flight starts with a trip to the Catalan capital as high-flying Espanyol take on Deportivo Alaves on Friday night. La Liga TV will be showing this match live in the UK with kick-off set for 20:00.

Our Spanish Football tipster Mark Sochon brings us the Team News, Match Odds and his two Best Bets for the match. Let's check out his Espanyol vs Deportivo Alaves Predictions here on Betfred Insights...

Espanyol vs Alaves Betting Tips

Highest scoring half - Second half @ 5/4
Draw or Alavés & Alavés over 3.5 corners @ 9/5 via Bet Builder

*odds correct at time of publication

Sports Welcome Offer

New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

Sports Welcome Offer

*You can check out all the Football Odds and markets on offer with us over at betfred.com

Espanyol vs Alaves Preview:

The Friday night football in La Liga comes from the RCDE Stadium. Surprise package Espanyol are bidding to get back on track after a slow start to 2026, with Alavés providing the opposition.

It was always likely that we would see a dip in form from Espanyol at some stage. They started the campaign with 10 wins from 17 league matches prior to the festive break. Given they only picked up 11 victories in all of last season, that return was viewed as a wild overachievement.

A reliance on set-piece goals contributed to their success, and there was a sense that Manolo González was getting the very maximum out of his squad. The likes of Edu Expósito, Pere Milla and Leandro Cabrera, three players who might be somewhat unfairly dubbed Spanish football journeymen, performed to a very high level as the Periquitos launched a surprise European push.

The new year also started well purely from a performance standpoint, but an unfortunate late defeat to rivals Barcelona was the beginning of a run that has seen the Catalan team pick up only one point from their last four league outings. That's all the more disappointing given their last three fixtures have been against Levante, Girona and Valencia.

It'd be premature to say the wheels have come off, with Espanyol still sitting pretty in fifth place. However, this is certainly the sort of game they will need to be winning if they're to sustain a challenge for European qualification in the second half of the season.

Securing survival is the only serious objective for Alavés. That's invariably the way for a club with one of the smallest budgets in the Spanish top flight, and they only finished two points above the relegation zone in 15th place last season.

This time around, they are again 15th, but with only a one-point cushion on the bottom three as it stands. The pressure was starting to build on their boss Chacho Coudet, but that eased considerably last Sunday when they secured one of their best results of the campaign, with a 2-1 home win over Real Betis.

The opening goal in that match was scored by winger Carlos Vicente, Alavés' top scorer in La Liga this season with five goals. However, the 26-year-old has since completed a reported €8m move to mid-table Championship side Birmingham City, a damning reflection on the financial gulf that currently exists between the Spanish top flight and even some of the bigger spenders in the English second tier.

Alavés will feel like they've got good money for the player, but they will need to reinvest at least some of that wisely and quickly ahead of Monday's transfer deadline. So far, they've only made one new addition this month, with Ángel Pérez joining from Huesca for €1m.

Team News:

Selection issues have not been a major factor in Espanyol's poor start to the new year. They're only missing one player currently, with winger Javi Puado out long-term with a torn ACL. Manolo may opt for changes after a 3-2 defeat at Mestalla last weekend, with Expósito, Kike García and Tyrhys Dolan pushing for recalls.

As for Alavés, they'll obviously need to find a replacement for Vicente, with Brazilian winger Calebe expected to come into the team. Otherwise, Coudet may be reluctant to make many alterations to the side that beat Betis.

The visitors are also doing well on the fitness front. Their only selection concern heading into this encounter is Denis Suárez, who has what's thought to only be a minor injury.

Espanyol vs Deportivo Alaves Lineups (Predicted)

Espanyol: Dmitrovic, El Hilali, Calero, Cabrera, Romero, Jofre, Gonzalez, Lozano, Terrats, Fernandez, Milla
Deportivo Alaves: Sivera, Tenaglia, Protesoni, Pacheco, Otto, Guridi, Blanco, Ibanez, Alena, Boye, Martinez

Match Odds:

Despite their current slump, Espanyol are still the 19/20 favourites to win this match. The Draw is priced at 21/10, while you can back Alavés to emerge victorious at odds of 10/3.

If you fancy the hosts to get back on track, you can also back Espanyol to win and Over 2.5 goals at 11/4. Manolo's side are priced at 11/8 to score over 1.5 goals, while you can back them to win both halves at 5/1.

Alternatively, Alavés are on offer at 6/4 to win either half. You can also back Both teams to score at 6/5, while the away team are priced at 4/6 to score at least once in the match.

There's a decent chance that both sides will line up with 4-4-2 systems, which would put all the focus on the strikers in terms of likely goal threats. For the hosts, you can back Roberto Fernández to score anytime at 15/8, while Kike is on offer at 7/4 to get on the scoresheet against the club he left last summer.

Lucas Boyé and Toni Martínez should lead the line for the visitors. They're available as anytime goalscorer bets at 11/5 and 11/4, respectively.

*You can bet on and check out all of our Espanyol vs Deportivo Alaves Odds with our full betting markets on betfred.com

Espanyol vs Deportivo Alaves Stats

Alaves have the joint-worst record for Goals per Shot at just 0.05. Espanyol aren't much better at 0.08.
Only Athletic Bilbao (486) have attempted more crosses than Espanyol (453).
Pepe Milla is one of 24 players in La Liga to take an average of more than three shots per 90 minutes.

Bet 1 - Highest scoring half - Second half @ 5/4

Espanyol's confidence would certainly have taken a hit by their recent results, and they may take their time to get back into their groove here. Alavés are unlikely to throw too much caution to the wind early on, and with both sides featuring among the top eight defensive records in La Liga, this may take a while to open up.

The visitors have only scored one first-half goal on their travels this term in the Spanish top flight, although they've also only conceded five times before the break away.

With 67% of the goals scored in Espanyol's home matches coming after the break, there's additional reason to back the second half in the Highest Scoring Half market at 5/4.

Bet 2 - Draw or Alavés & Alavés over 3.5 corners @ 9/5 via Bet Builder

Manolo's men have conceded eight goals in four matches so far in 2026, and there seems to be a vulnerability to them, which wasn't present in the first half of the season.

That has to offer encouragement to an Alavés side that had 17 shots and won six corners at home to a relatively strong Betis outfit last time out. They also won six corners in their most recent away fixture against Atlético Madrid, when Boyé missed two clear late headed chances to level the game at 1-1.

I'm expecting the visitors to be competitive again here, and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Draw or Alavés and Alavés over 3.5 corners at 9/5.

2 Up Early Payout

Pre-Match Football bets on the 2 Up Early Payout market in selected games. Paid as a winner within 5 minutes if your team goes 2 goals ahead. Selected leagues only. 90 mins only. T&Cs Apply.

Sports Welcome Offer

Mark Sochon P/L 25/26 Season:

Points Staked: 154
Points Returned: 149.44
P/L: -4.56

You can check out Mark's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...