Almeria host Malaga on Sunday evening at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos and Sergi Barjuan's side will be desperate to earn the three points that could put them on the verge of safety.
Los Rojiblancos come into the game in good form at home having picked up seven points in their last three games in front of their own fans and they will know that this is their best chance of picking up points with their last two games being against Champions League chasing Sevilla and Valencia. Things are beginning to really heat up at the bottom of La Liga with Deportivo La Coruna, Eibar and Granada all level on 31 points, just one behind Almeria and it looks like two of those four will join Cordoba in the Segunda next season.
The hosts will be without the suspended Mauro and Michel, Fran Velez and Julian Cuesta look set to miss out through injury and Sergi Barjuan was in no mood to play down the importance of the match. In his pre match press conference the Almeria coach said; "The Malaga game is life or death but we must play with our heads."
Malaga are currently ninth in La Liga but they are in poor form having gone eight games without winning. Javi Gracia's side never looked like breaking into the top six this season but they spent a long time in seventh place which could have saw them qualify for the Europa League depending on the winners of this year's Europa League and Copa del Rey but they have been caught by Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao and they need to turn things around if they are to keep their European dream alive.
Malaga could be without Juanmi who missed training on Friday and it is expected Gracia may make some changes to the lineup as he looks to bring the team out of the poor run that has saw them slump in recent weeks. In his press conference Gracia was still aiming to reach Europe and said; "If we don't win at Almeria it is true that we will miss our chance of playing in Europe, it is like a final for us."
Over the course of the season Malaga have been the better team but on current form Almeria could be considered favourites for this. Both teams have plenty to play for at this stage of the season which could make this a very interesting match as both look to finish their campaigns on a positive note.
Possible Teams
Almeria - Ruben; Ximo, Trujillo, Antonio Marin, Dubarbier; Zongo, Thomas, Verza, Espinosa; Hemed, Thievy.
Malaga - Kameni; Rosales, Weligton, Sanchez, Boka; Recio, Darder; Samu Garcia, Amrabat, Castillejo; Juanmi.