Espanyol and Alavés set for Friday night showdown as both seek to silence off-pitch noise

A week dominated by media tensions will finally give way to actual football as Espanyol welcome Alavés to the RCDE Stadium on Friday night, with both sides desperate to let their performances do the talking.

Current form

The Periquitos find themselves in a rather surprising position this season. Currently holding onto fifth place in the table with 34 points, they’ve been one of the division’s pleasant surprises. That said, their cushion has shrunk considerably following their recent 3-2 defeat at Valencia’s Mestalla.

Alavés, meanwhile, sit much lower down the pecking order with 22 points, though they’ll be buoyed by their recent 2-1 victory over Real Betis. Their away form, however, tells a different story - they’re currently on a miserable run of seven consecutive defeats on their travels.

What to expect

This fixture represents a golden opportunity for both sides:

• For Espanyol, it’s about recapturing the form that propelled them to their current lofty position
• For Alavés, it’s a chance to finally end their away day hoodoo and build on that morale-boosting win against Betis

The Barcelona outfit will be banking on home advantage to get back to winning ways, while the visitors from the Basque Country will be desperate to show they can perform away from the comfort of Mendizorroza.

Match details

The game kicks off at 21:00 local time on Friday, January 30th. For those looking to catch the action, DAZN will be broadcasting the match live. Radio MARCA will provide commentary, while MARCA.com will offer a live text feed with pre-match build-up starting two hours before kick-off.

After what’s been a right old barney in the media this week, both sides will be proper chuffed to get back to the bread and butter of actual football. My money’s on Espanyol to nick it, but Alavés might just have other ideas.