Who will complete La Liga in the new season?
While the question of promotion and relegation for the new season has already been answered for weeks in Europe’s other top leagues and the ball has largely rested in European club football, qualification for Spain’s elite division is dragging on well into June. Tenerife and Girona will play out the last available starting place for La Liga this Sunday.
Last season’s fifth-placed team, CD Tenerife, will face their immediate neighbours Girona, who finished the season in sixth place with just one point less. After the goalless draw in Girona the previous week, the best bookmakers have the team from the Canary Island as favourites in the second leg between Tenerife and Girona.
Tenerife – Statistics & current form
For the first time in twelve years, Jupp Heynckes’ tradition-steeped former club have the opportunity to make a return to Spain’s elite league. After spending the last few years in the Segunda División closer to the relegation zone than the promotion places, things have gone well for coach Ramis Monfort’s team this season. The foundation for their success this season was laid in the first half of the season, when they finished third.
Often with problems at home
The strong first half of the season could not quite be confirmed, however, so that they were unable to defend third place and finished the season in fifth place. Especially in the home matches there were often no convincing performances, in the whole season there were only nine home wins and no less than seven defeats at home. In the home table of the Segunda División, they are only in twelfth place. At least they managed to finish almost half of these games without conceding a goal, but they also failed to score in seven of their own games.
Coach Ramis Monfort still has to work on the consistency of his team. In the semi-final against Las Palmas, however, his team was right on target. After three defeats in the league in a row, they won both games and thus have a great chance of promotion. They also won both games against their upcoming opponents, FC Girona, in this year’s championship. After the goalless draw in the first leg last weekend, they are still unbeaten against the team from Catalonia this season.
For Tenerife against Girona, we predict that this will not change in the next 90 minutes and play the double odds in favour of the home team. Coach Ramis Monfort will be missing midfielder Larrea on Sunday.
Predicted Tenerife line-up:
Soriano, Moore, Ruiz, León, Mellot, Mollejo, Corredera, Sanz, Bermejo, González, Gallego
Last matches played in Tenerife:
LaLiga2 Playoff
12/06/2022 – Girona 0 – 0 Tenerife
05/06/2022 – Las Palmas 1 – 2 Tenerife
02/06/2022 – Tenerife 1 – 0 Las Palmas
LaLiga2
30/05/2022 – Tenerife 1 – 2 Cartagena
22/05/2022 – Eibar 2 – 0 Tenerife
Girona – Statistics & current form
Not as long ago as Tenerife’s last foray into the Beletage of Spanish football was Girona FC. After the Catalans celebrated promotion in 2016/17, they played a strong debut season in La Liga before going down a level in their second year. They finished fifth in both of the last two years and failed both times in relegation. The Catalans are now aiming to make it in their third attempt. However, the betting odds on Tenerife against Girona only indicate an underdog role for the second leg.
Surprise Girona away again?
After losing 1-0 at home to last season’s third-placed SD Eibar in the semi-finals, most Spanish football pundits were already expecting the Catalans to be eliminated from the play-offs, especially as they had not won against Eibar since the 2013/13 season. But coach Sánchez Muñoz’s team proved all the experts wrong and qualified for the play-off final against Tenerife with a 2-0 win.
A similar situation now exists before the decisive second leg in Tenerife. It is true that the goalless draw in the first leg puts them in a better position than against Eibar. However, trips to the Canary Island have rarely been crowned with an away win in recent years. The last win in Tenerife was also in 2014, and although Girona FC’s squad value is far higher than Tenerife’s, Tenerife have failed to beat them in all three games so far this season. Our prediction for Tenerife against Girona is that they will fail to do so at the fourth attempt. Coach Sánchez Muñoz will be without Kébé and Garcia on Sunday.
Predicted line-up of Girona:
Carlos, Fernández, Juanpe, Espinosa, Bueno, Arnau Martinez, Garcia, Pol Lozano, Ivan Martin, Baena, Bustos
Last matches played by Girona:
LaLiga2 Playoff
12/06/2022 – Girona 0 – 0 Tenerife
05/06/2022 – Eibar 0 – 2 Girona
02/06/2022 – Girona 0 – 1 Eibar
LaLiga2
30/05/2022 – Burgos CF 0 – 0 Girona
22/05/2022 – Girona 2 – 0 CD Mirandes
Tenerife – Girona Direct comparison / H2H balance
The two teams have faced each other in a total of 19 matches so far in the Segunda División and Copa del Rey. The overall balance is quite even. Girona have won seven matches, while Tenerife have won six. Six times the points were shared. The goal difference is also balanced with 23:23 goals.
This season, Tenerife won both direct comparisons against Girona. Tenerife have not been a big draw for Girona in recent years either, with their last away win on the resort island dating back to the 2014/15 season.
Tenerife – Girona Tip
The Segunda División is not known for high-scoring encounters, rather for strongly tactical games and defensive basic alignments of many teams. If you add the importance of this duel, it is not surprising that the spectators saw a tough game without any goals last weekend.
This coming Sunday, however, no goal festival is to be expected. Due to the starting position alone, both teams are likely to take a wait-and-see approach in order not to make the decisive mistake. It is quite possible that the match will be decided by a single goal or go into extra time without a goal. In the case of Tenerife against Girona, the bet on under 2.5 goals should work out, for which the bookmakers are offering low odds, as expected.
Since we also assume that Girona will not win the match within 90 minutes, we combine this tip with double the odds on the home team.
