Granada vs Rayo Vallecano | Match Preview, Odds and Prediction
Newly-promoted Granada welcomes Rayo Vallecano to the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes on Monday evening and are favourites to pick up all three points with home advantage. Paco López’s men suffered a 3-1 defeat in their opening clash to Atletico Madrid and hope to finally get off the mark after their promotion from the Segunda Division.
Rayo enjoyed a winning start to the campaign, beating Almeria 2-0 at the Power Horse Stadium, so they might fancy their chances of getting a result too. Francisco’s side are an established top-flight outfit, but their away form was woeful last season. This is why bookmakers believe they could fall short of a club that wasn’t in the division last season.
Granada, who were unbeaten at home in 2022/23, are 8/5 with Matchbook To Win against Raya. Los Nazaríes’ head-to-head record has been very one-sided down the years, however, so Raya are 11/5 with BetWay To Win as a result. But only three clubs picked up more draws than the visitors last season, so Granada and Rayo are 11/5 with 10 Bet To Draw.
Granada won promotion to La Liga after winning the Segunda Division title last season. They won 17 times and drew four of their 21 home outings, conceding only six goals, so Total Away Goals Under 1.5 is 4/11 with William Hill. The hosts averaged 1.8 goals per game at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, so Total Home Goals Over 1.5 is 9/4 with Bet 365.
Rayo finished 11th last season, losing more games (15) than they won (13) while conceding more goals (53) than they scored (45), so they’re fallible despite being more established. Los Franjirrojos have an appalling away record, winning only four times from 19 games while conceding 1.6 goals per game on the road, so Total Home Goals Over 2.5 is 6/1 with Bet 365.
Their record over Granada makes predicting Monday’s game difficult, however, with Rayo unbeaten in head-to-heads since 2013. Raya drew 2-2 at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes in 2021/22 and thrashed them 4-0 at the Estadio de Vallecas. Granada have lost seven and drawn two of their last nine meetings with Rayo, so can they turn things around before going 10 without a win?
Myrto Uzuni was Granada’s go-to guy last season with 23 goals and five assists from 38 league games. The 28-year-old is 15/2 with Sporting Index to be First Goalscorer and 13/4 with Sporting Index to Score Anytime. The hosts signed Shon Weissman who netted 20 league goals in 2021/22, so he might be one to watch too. The 27-year-old is 15/2 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer and 3/1 with William Hill to Score Anytime.
Rayo have Isi Palazón who was their top scorer last season with nine goals and five assists from 37 league games. The 28-year-old is 9/1 with Bet 365 to be First Goalscorer and 5/1 with Unibet to Score Anytime. Álvaro García, who had a hand in 10 goals last season, is 12/1 with Bet 365 to be First Goalscorer and 11/2 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime.
Prediction: Granada 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
