Our prediction for this Segunda Division match:
Estadio Mendizorrotza will host Saturday’s La Liga 2 game between Deportivo Alaves and Sporting Gijon, the two top-table sides. The Basques did well to beat Andorra on the road in their last league match, with Luis Rioja scoring the only goal of the match, and a triumph over Sporting could see them overtake Las Palmas in top position. Forward Mamadou Sylla remains on the sidelines with an ankle problem, while Aleksandar Sedlar faces race against clock to be fit for the match.
Los Rojiblancos, on the other hand, quickly bounced back from a 5-0 defeat to Granada, with the team beating Eibar 2-0 in front of home fans. Sporting Gijon, though, are not regarded as good travellers, which is the main reason why we predict Alaves will pick up all three points from the match. Both Aitor Garcia and Nacho Mendez are sidelined with injuries for the away team.
Highlighted Player (Diego Marino):
Diego Marino is a Spanish goalkeeper who plays for Sporting Gijon. The 185-cm-tall shoot-stopper was born on 9 May, 1990 in Vigo and he played for the likes of Santa Marina, Rapido Bouzas, Sardoma, Areosa and Villarreal during his youth career. Between 2008 and 2010 he played for Villarreal C and in 2010 he started playing for Villarreal B.
Marino made 72 appearances for Villarreal B and in 2012 he joined the first team. He was not Villarreal’s first-choice goalkeeper in the 2012/2013 campaign and he made no more than nine appearances for the Yellow Submarine. In the 2015/2016 season he played for Levante, but following their relegation to Segunda Division, Diego Marino decided to sign a deal with Sporting Gijon on 1 July, 2016.
The goalkeeper has 6 caps for Spain U-21, while playing 3 games for Spain U23. It has to be noted that he won UEFA U-21 Championships in 2011 and 2013 with La Furia Roja. Back in 2007 he made it to the FIFA U-17 World Cup final with the Spanish national team.
Highlighted Team (Gijon):
Sporting Gijon are a Spanish football club that competes in La Liga. Sporting Gijon’s home ground is El Molinon, the stadium that was built in 1908. El Molinon is the oldest football field in Spain and the capacity of the stadium is 30,000. Sporting Gijon’s home kit is red and white and the club’s main rivals are Real Oviedo.
The two teams take on each other in the Asturian derby. Sporting Gijon did remarkably well to finish the 1978/1979 La Liga campaign in second position in the standings and that is considered the club’s biggest success. Los Rojiblancos were runners-up in Spanish Copa Del Rey in 1981 and 1982, but they have yet to win the Spanish Cup.
The club was founded in 1905 and the club’s original name was Sporting Gijones. Sporting Gijon participated in the UEFA Cup on six occasions, but they did not record a good result in the European competition.