Malaga will be hoping to continue their fine run of form into 2015 when they host Almeria at the La Rosaleda Stadium on Saturday night.
Malaga ended 2014 brilliantly with three consecutive wins which leaves them seventh in La Liga with 30 points tied with Villarreal and Sevilla. Despite their slow start to the campaign and the significant number of absentees they have registered their best ever first half to a La Liga season and will be confident they can make four wins from four.
Almeria are the polar opposite to Javi Garcia’s side currently sitting 16th in the table and are level on points with Deportivo and Granada with 13 points. Despite their poor form, they have two consecutive wins in all competitions with a 2-1 over Real Betis in the Copa Del Rey and a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo in the league which will give them a boost of confidence.
Malaga have quite a significant injury list with; Roberto Chen, Juanmi, Sergio Sanchez, Flavio Ferreira and Wellington are all out and midfielder Fernando Tissone looks doubtful. Duda looks set to start after returning to fitness but Pablo Perez will be returning to Boca Juniors after the two clubs agreed a deal in the past week.
Ruben Martinez and Michael Macedo are both out for Almeria with Macedo suffering from Stomach pain, midfielder Fernando Soriano also looks a doubt to play with an ankle injury.