In anticipation of the Christmas holidays, Real Betis’ unbeaten record of 12 matches in La Liga will face a tough challenge on Thursday night when the league leader Girona visits the Benito Villamarin stadium. Nevertheless, the green-and-white team, starting this round in seventh place, should approach this game with enough confidence, as they have yet to lose at home in this La Liga season, conceding only three goals here. Moreover, Manuel Pellegrini’s team has drawn in the last three matches in the division, and tense games have become the norm, though they have scored only two goals in these three challenging encounters combined. Unable to play are Sabaly, Rodriguez, Isco, Fekir, Bravo, and Bartra, who has an Achilles injury.
Girona remains one of the two unbeaten teams away from home in the league, winning seven consecutive duels and scoring 19 goals during this period. This includes four goals against Barcelona in their last away encounter. On Monday evening, they easily defeated Alaves at home with a score of 3-0, putting them at the top of the league midweek, two points ahead of the nearest competitor Real Madrid and nine points ahead of third-placed Barcelona. For a team that has never finished a season in the top half and has only competed at this level three times, a record of 14 wins out of 17 possible is truly outstanding. Out of the game are Artero, Garcia, Herrera, Justin, Roca, and Villa, who has a knee injury.
