Girona vs Rayo Vallecano Tips & Preview - Expect goals in Friday night opener

By Tolu Shotade

22 seconds ago

Tolu Shotade 22 seconds ago

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Girona narrowly avoided relegation last season.
Rayo Vallecano finished eighth, just missing European spots.
Historically, Girona and Rayo matches often have over 2.5 goals.

Girona vs Rayo Vallecano

Girona are looking to move on from last season’s struggles as they begin their Spanish La Liga campaign with a home clash against Rayo Vallecano.

Both sides have seen little transfer activity this summer as they look to improve on last season's showings. Neither defence has been convincing lately, and goals could be expected in this fixture.

Girona News

Last season was a brutal reality check for Girona, who failed to build on their top-four finish two years ago. They narrowly escaped relegation last term and will be targeting a strong start to set the tone for a much better campaign.

One of the issues for Girona last season was a leaky defence as they conceded 60 La Liga goals, with only the bottom two letting in more. They brought in defender Vitor Reis to shore things up, having failed to keep things tight in seven of their last nine La Liga matches, with the final two producing over 2.5 goals.

Preseason was a mixed bag for Girona, who picked up three wins and suffered two defeats from six friendly matches. Michel’s team also scored first in two of their last three matches but were beaten 3-2 by Napoli in their final warm-up game.

Rayo Vallecano News

Rayo Vallecano have reasons to be pleased with their performance last season as they finished eighth in the table, narrowly missing out on a European place. Manager Inigo Perez will be keen to build on that, but they were a bit erratic in preseason, with two wins from four matches, beating Sunderland 3-0 in their final warm-up fixture.

Like the hosts, Rayo Vallecano have seen little transfer activity this summer, with Luiz Felipe from Marseille the only major acquisition so far. The visitors will be keen to avoid last season's start, where they only picked up one win from their opening four matches.

Rayo Vallecano are generally solid going forward and have scored in eight of their last 10 matches across all competitions. Five of their last seven fixture have produced over 2.5 goals, while they are without a clean sheet in four matches on this run.

Head to Head

Rayo Vallecano have nine wins while Girona have picked up eight victories, with seven draws from 24 previous matches. The visitors were unbeaten last season, playing out a 0-0 away draw before winning 2-1 at home.

Verdict

Girona v Rayo Vallecano

Girona and Rayo Vallecano often serve up open encounters, and five of their last six meetings have produced over 2.5 goals. With both teams also scoring in four fixtures on this run, a similar pattern could be expected on Friday.

The hosts will be targeting a fast start in front of their fans, and having grabbed the opening goal in two of their last three matches, could be backed to score first here.

Yes

Both Teams to Score

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Girona

To Score First Goal

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Over 2.5

Total Goals

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