Girona vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction: League leaders can progress in Copa del Rey

After Real Madrid’s success in Saudi Arabia, Spanish football continues on home soil as the Copa del Rey returns in midweek.

On Wednesday night, La Liga leaders Girona look to continue their stellar form as they host Rayo Vallecano in the round of 16. Below we have previewed the match-up and taken a look at the betting angles for this clash. 

Team News

Girona will unfortunately be without Aleix Garcia after the central midfielder was sent off against Almeria last time out. He will now miss this game, and manager Michel could be forced to shuffle his pack with a whole host of injuries. David Lopez, Toni Villa, Eric Garcia, Joel Roca Casals and Richard Artero are all ruled out of this encounter, while with Sevilla to come on Sunday, he could give some fringe players a chance. 

Pathe Ciss and Bebe are away on international duty for the visitors so will miss this one, while Oscar Trejo is out injured. However, Rayo Vallecano haven’t played since the 6th January and so Francicsco could name the same starting XI as he did in the victory over Huesca. 

Match Odds

Girona are the 8/11 favourites to win this match, with the away side priced at 16/5. A draw can be backed at 5/2, over 2.5 goals is 8/11 and BTTS is 4/6.

Girona to win in 90 mins @ 8/11

Despite the absentees, Girona are rightly favourites for this game on home soil. They’ve been simply superb so far this term, topping the La Liga table and scoring hatfuls of goals along the way. The way you see this game going depends on how much weight you give to the 0-0 draw Girona scraped last time out against the division's rock-bottom side, Almeria, who have failed to win any of their opening 20 league games this season. 

Girona were miles off it during that game, and should have lost by all accounts. Lucky to come away with a draw, we are now waiting to see how they respond to that dismal display, having been almost faultless prior to that in La Liga. In my eyes, they will respond positively, and take their frustration out on Rayo Vallecano. Michel may make changes, with the likes of Viktor Tysgankov possibly coming into the XI, and with the squad under pressure at the top of the league - the cup may provide some welcome relief. 

Girona are having a historic season so far, and they can carry that on in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night. 

Cristhian Stuani to score anytime @ 11/10

One man who is also likely to be given a start is influential attacker Cristhian Stuani. The Uruguay forward is now 37, but he has notched six goals in 18 La Liga games so far this term and is proving a valuable addition to this Girona squad. He’s likely to start as Michel shuffles his pack in search for the goals that deserted him at the weekend.

As a result, I’m more comfortable backing Stuani to score anytime, rather than top scorer Artem Dovbyk, who despite his 11 league goals could be rested with a vital La Liga encounter to come at the weekend. It may be worth keeping an eye on the team news before plumping for either one of the forwards, who are the same price at 11/10 to find the net in 90 minutes.

Check out our other Football Betting Tips here.