Real Betis will be bidding to strengthen their grip on a European spot in the La Liga table when they welcome already-relegated Almeria to Estadio Benito Villamarin on Sunday night.

The hosts are seventh, five points ahead of eighth-placed Valencia, while Almeria are rock bottom of the division, with their relegation to the Segunda Division already being confirmed.

Match preview

Real Betis finished sixth in La Liga last season, which saw them qualify for the group stage of the Europa League, but Manuel Pellegrini's side are currently seventh in Spain's top flight.

As it stands, the Seville outfit will be qualifying for the Conference League playoff round, but they are only two points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad, while Valencia in eighth are just five points behind, so a lot could still change before the season ends later this month.

Real Betis will enter this match in strong form, picking up 10 points from the last 12 available courtesy of three wins and a draw, beating Celta Vigo, Valencia and Osasuna, in addition to sharing the points with Sevilla in the Seville derby.

Pellegrini's side have been strong at home this season, picking up 31 points from their 17 matches in front of their own fans, suffering just two defeats in the process.

Real Betis are also unbeaten in their last three league matches with Almeria, but the points were shared in a goalless draw when they locked horns for the reverse fixture earlier this season.

Almeria's relegation back to the Segunda Division has already been confirmed, with the strugglers rock bottom of the table, some 15 points behind 17th-placed Mallorca with just four games left.

There is no getting away from the fact that it has been an incredibly tough campaign for La Union, but they will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 success over Rayo Vallecano last weekend.

Both of Almeria's league wins this season have come on their travels, also overcoming Las Palmas in the middle of March, and Pepe Mel's side will be bidding to make it back-to-back La Liga victories for the first time this term when they make the trip to Seville.

UDA will already be thinking about next season, and although there will be a big turnaround of players this summer, they will still be confident of making a strong push for an immediate return to the top flight.

Conceding goals has been a serious problem for Almeria this term, shipping 67 in their 34 league matches, which is unsurprisingly the worst defensive record in the division.

Team News

Real Betis will welcome Isco back into their squad this weekend, with the experienced attacker missing out against Osasuna last time out due to a one-game suspension.

However, the team still have a number of injury problems, with Cedric Bakambu, Hector Bellerin and Marc Bartra definitely out, while German Pezzella, Assane Diao and Ezequiel Avila are major doubts.

Isco will return to the XI on Sunday, likely in place of Nabil Fekir, while Sokratis Papastathopoulos is on standby to feature in the middle of the defence if Pezzella does not pass a late fitness test.

As for Almeria, Aleksandar Radovanovic will again miss out through injury, while Gonzalo Melero, Largie Ramazani and Cesar Montes are all suspended for the division's basement outfit.

Lucas Robertone and Jonathan Viera are back from bans of their own, though, and the visitors have not reported any fresh fitness concerns ahead of the contest.

Both Robertone and Viera should return to the XI on Sunday evening, while there will be another start at centre-forward for Anthony Lozano, who registered in the success over Rayo.

Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Sabaly, Sokratis, Riad, Miranda; Rodriguez, Cardoso; Fornals, Isco, Perez; Willian Jose

Almeria possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Pubill, E Gonzalez, Chumi, Centelles; Robertone, Pena; Baptistao, Viera, Embarba; Lozano

We say: Real Betis 2-0 Almeria

Almeria will certainly have gained confidence from their success over Rayo last time out, but this is a different test entirely, with Real Betis pushing for the top six, and we are expecting a routine home success for Pellegrini's side on Sunday night.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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