Elche head west into Andalusia on Sunday evening to take on fellow strugglers Cordoba in a vital relegation battle.
Cordoba are bottom of La Liga, nine points from safety although they will come into this game in good spirits after ending a run of ten successive defeats in a row by drawing at the Riazor on Wednesday. Cordoba have struggled at home this season winning just once at the Estadio Nuevo Arcangel and if they are to somehow get themselves out of trouble they will have to do much better on home soil. Scoring goals has been a huge part of the problem for Los Califas with just twenty goals in their thirty games.
José Antonio Romero faces a few selection headaches for this game with Jose Angel Crespo and Daniel Pinillos suspended and Iago Bouzon, Inigo Lopez and Fede Vico likely to miss out due to injury.
Elche are fairing better than Cordoba this season but they are currently fifteenth in the table and just one point ahead of Deportivo La Coruna who are eighteenth. Only Levante (55) have conceded more goals than Elche's fifty-four this season and Los Franjiverdes will have to find a way of shutting the back door if they are to remain in La Liga next season. Elche have won just one of their last seven games and managed just one point from their last four games which could be considered relegation form.
Fortunately for Elche they come into this game with just one man missing. Sergio Pelegrin is injured but otherwise Fran Escribá has a full squad to pick from which hasn't always been the case in recent weeks.
On paper this game looks fairly even with both sides struggling at the wrong end of the league table. At this time of the year the teams won't be too concerned about their performance and will only be concerned about the end result which could result in an intriguing encounter at the Estadio Nuevo Arcanagel.