Overview
Rayo Vallecano had a regretful opening match of the season despite a favorable start. Alvaro Garcia put the home team ahead in the 4th minute, but Jon Guridi equalized for Sevilla with a penalty in the 52nd minute. In the 90+7 minute, Sevilla was awarded another penalty and successfully converted it to win 2-1, even though they were previously only 10 on the field.
Returning to the Estadio de Vallecas stadium, Rayo has a basis to be confident before facing Alaves. In the 2025-2026 season, they finished 8th in La Liga with 50 points, scoring 41 goals and conceding 44 goals.
Head-to-head history also leans towards Rayo as they have won 4 out of 5 recent encounters with Alaves. Notably, Rayo has won all 4 recent home matches against this opponent without conceding a goal.
In the opposite direction, Alaves had a favorable opening match. Kiko Femenia receiving a red card right before halftime helped Quique Sanchez Flores' team gain an advantage over Getafe. Alaves took advantage and scored 3 goals in the second half to win all 3 points.
Alaves finished last season in 14th place with 43 points, but the defense is a weakness when conceding 56 goals. The away record is also not good as they have only won 4 matches and lost 11 matches in the whole season.
Alaves have not won at Estadio de Vallecas since 2018, when they once won 5-1. In the most recent meeting in May, Rayo defeated their opponent 2-1 away, thereby completing a double win against Alaves last season.
Personnel situation
Rayo will not have the service of Luiz Felipe. This defender is expected to be out for about 4 months due to a hamstring injury, while Marash Kumbulla's ability to play is still open.
Rayo is quite active in the summer transfer market, mainly in terms of selling players. Pep Chavarria moved to Chelsea for a fee of about 16.3 million pounds, and Nobel Mendy joined Hull City for 19.7 million pounds. These deals made Benat San Jose have to work with a squad with many changes.
Augusto Batalla is likely to still keep his position in goal even though Rayo lost in the opening match, while Sergio Camello was chosen to play highest in the attack.
Alaves may use their strongest squad in the away match at Vallecas, with Lucas Boye likely to return after injury.
Mariano Diaz impressed right in his first appearance for Alaves. After coming on in the 33rd minute in the match against Getafe, the Dominican striker scored one goal and assisted twice, making an important contribution to the team's victory.
That performance is likely to help Diaz have a starting spot against Rayo. He is predicted to play alongside Toni Martinez in attack.
Expected lineup:
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla, Ratiu, Lejeune, Ciss, Balliu, Valentin, Lopez, Frutos, Palazon, Garcia, Camello.
Sivera, Otto, Koski, Tenaglia, Rebbach, Blanco, Rodriguez, Ibanez, Perez, Diaz, Martinez.
The match between Rayo Vallecano and Alaves takes place at 2:00 AM on August 21 (Vietnam time).
