C.D. Leganés visit Real Sporting at El Molinón this Friday at 21:00 CEST in what marks the fifth matchday of LaLiga SmartBank. The pepineros will be looking to maintain their optimism from their last encounter as they take on the team with the most points, who will surely be focussed on not letting that change.
The second consecutive outing for C.D. Leganés, this visit is also to one of the teams expected to challenge for promotion this season. The blanquiazules fought hard to split the points at Ipurua against S.D. Eibar, a recently relegated team from LaLiga Santander, and turn to face their next opponents with a stronger morale and more grounded approach.
Manager Asier Garitano will have his 250th official game at the pepinero helm this Friday, but still has to deal with the absence of wingers Javier Avilés, who is recovering from injury, and José Arnaiz, who is isolating due to Covid-19. The squad list remains small off the back of the World Cup qualifying round, as the coach recognised the absences of Kenneth Omeruo and Yoel Bárcenas, while Gaku Shibasaki's game availability is still unconfirmed.
Real Sporting, unbeatean and league leaders
Real Sporting on the other hand, approach the game from a very different set of circumstances. They come into the fixture at the top of the table with three wins and a draw to their name. The Asturians have collected all three points on each of their two games, against Burgos C.F. (1-0) and C.D. Mirandés (2-1), while their fourth matchday saw them record their first away win of the season over Girona F.C. in Montilivi (1-2)/
The rojiblancos manager, David Gallego, will be pleased to welcome back two international players in full back Guille Rosas and forward Uros Djurdjevic, who were both missing from last weekend's action. Bárcenas countryman José Luis Rodríguez however, is unavailable for the match. Vasyl Kravets, the Ukrainian, will also be unable to rejoin the squad in time for the game. Iván Cuéllar and Christian Rivera are two familiar faces pepineros will recognise among Real Sporting's lineup.
The game will be officiated by Galician referee Javier Iglesias Villanueva.
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