After winning ‘in extremis’ against an Almería team that was longing to stop its distance from the top of the table in Ipurua, Eibar returns … to surrender to the arms of their stadium to try to stop in their tracks a Sporting that has launched itself headlong into the promotion play-off places.
With their status as the worst visitor in the category put on hold, at least for now, those from Beñat San José will once again make the most of the power in their stadium that has them as the third best venue in the competition, with 24 points, only behind Málaga and Ceuta, which have one more than the armeros.
Paradoxically, the only two defeats suffered by Beñat San José’s team in front of their fans came in a row against Zaragoza (1-2) and Cultural Leonesa (1-2) in the final stretch of the year, blots that the Blaugranas have managed to mask with their last three consecutive victories that have maximally reinforced their confidence to continue being among the strongest hosts.
Everything and more will be necessary to hinder the takeoff towards Primera undertaken by the people of Gijón, who have just chained two wins in the fiefdom of Cultural Leonesa (2-4) and in El Molinón against a Mirandés (3-0) increasingly closer to falling to Primera RFEF, and who perform almost as well at home as they did away, where they have celebrated five victories for six defeats suffered.
After the satisfaction reported by Lander Olatexea’s providential goal in extra time, it would be logical to think that the San Sebastian coach will once again repeat the same eleven that dominated the Indálicos, but the return of Arbilla after serving his three games of suspension, opens the door for his return to a left back that Hodei Arrillaga has appeared in two of the last three games, but that had become the private preserve of the Navarrese until he sent himself off against Mirandés just a month ago.
With no arrivals or departures two days before the blind of the winter window is lowered, more than names, what San José is changing are the positions, especially of its men up front, who turned around the drawing they had been occupying in the previous appointments, with Corpas back on the right flank where he produces the most, and with Jon Guruzeta distributing the game in a stellar way from the hitch position.
Without the new central
And while at Eibar the only known absence is that of Álvaro Rodríguez, who is progressing positively from the muscle injury that occurred in the last trip to Granada two weeks ago, Sporting de Gijón has not been able to include in the expedition the young Andalusian central defender Andrés Cuenca, who despite joining the group dynamics in Mareo at the beginning of the week, has not yet been registered as a white and red player because all the necessary documentation to process his registration has not been completed. loan from Barcelona before his permanent signing for Como is finalized at the end of the current campaign.
The coach of the Asturian team will also leave the injured Loum, Gaspar Campos and Nacho Martín at home, although he comes prepared with a large load of explosives to blow up Ipurua.
Eibar
Magunagoitia; Cubero, Marco Moreno, Nolaskoain, Arbilla and Hodei Arrillaga; Sergio, Olaetxea; Corpas, Cruzeta, Madariaga; Martón
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Sporting Gijón
Yáñez, Guille Rosas, Curbelo, Vázquez, Oliván; Bernal; Manu Rodríguez, Corredera; Dubasin, Otero, Gelabert.
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Campo:
(1991) 11. -
Arbitrator:
Cid Camacho, Castilian.Leonese.