Real Zaragoza and Real Murcia are only seperated on goal difference ahead of their game on Sunday afternoon at the La Romareda and both will looking to get a vital victory to move themselves away from the bottom of the table.Zaragoza have started 2008 in the same poor form as they finished 2007 and are without a win since the end of October in the league. This run led to them parting company with manager Víctor Fernández earlier this week and they need to turn their fortunes around soon to avoid getting pulled into the relegation dog-fight.
Prior to their thrashing at the hands of Barcelona last weekend, Murcia had only lost one in five in the league and will look to forget the Barça game and focus on regaining that sort of form in the coming weeks.
A New Start
Zaragoza moved quickly in their search for a successor to the departed Víctor Fernández, announcing on Tuesday that youth-team boss and former player Ander Garitano would take over as first-team coach until the end of the season.
His reign did not get off to the best of starts as they went down 4-2 to Racing Santander in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday and Garitano will know that he has a lot of work ahead of him to get the pre-season Champions League hopefuls moving up the table.
Upon his unveiling, Garitano identified the defence as the main area of the team that needed improvement and four goals conceded in mid-week will only have strengthed his belief that the back-line needs some serious work.
They have the second worst defensive record in the league and despite having a plethora of options in attacking areas, it has proved hard for them to win games when they concede goals on such a regular basis.
Zaragoza drew far too many matches that they really should have won in the first half of the season and Garitano knows that a win against Murcia on Sunday is vital if they are to improve their league position in the second half of the campaign.
Survival Is Key
Newly promoted Real Murcia will be relatively content with the start they have made to their first La Liga campaign in four years as they are already only four points behind their total for the whole season last time they mixed it with the big boys.
Survival is their primary objective this season and they currently find themselves within a gaggle of teams all the way up to Valladolid in 9th that are still very much in a battle against relegation in the second half of the season.
Their defensive record is the eighth best in the league, but they have struggled to score goals, managing just 16 in the 19 league games they have played so far this season.
New signings Fernando Baiano and Henok Goitom have struck a lively looking partnership up front, but that has not yet translated into prolific goal-scoring, with the two strikers having scored just seven goals between them in the first half of the campaign.
Now that the understanding is there between the forwards, Murcia coach Lucas Alcaraz will hope that they can starting scoring on a more regular basis for the remainder of the campaign, starting with Sunday's trip to Zaragoza.
FORM
Real Zaragoza
Recent MatchesMatch Result Date Championship
Racing - Zaragoza 4 - 2 16/01/2008 COPA DEL REY
Zaragoza - Mallorca 2 - 2 13/01/2008 LA LIGA
Zaragoza - Racing 1 - 1 09/01/2008 COPA DEL REY
Real Madrid - Zaragoza 2 - 0 06/01/2008 LA LIGA
Zaragoza - Valencia 2 - 2 22/12/2007 LA LIGA
Deportivo - Zaragoza 1 - 1 16/12/2007 LA LIGA
Real Murcia
Recent MatchesMatch Result Date Championship
Barcelona - Murcia 4 - 0 12/01/2008 LA LIGA
Murcia - Osasuna 3 - 0 06/01/2008 LA LIGA
Athletic Bilbao - Murcia 1 - 1 23/12/2007 LA LIGA
Murcia - Racing 2 - 1 16/12/2007 LA LIGA
Sevilla - Murcia 3 - 1 09/12/2007 LA LIGA
Mallorca - Murcia 1 - 1 02/12/2007 LA LIGA
TEAM NEWS
Real Zaragoza
Luis Cuartero, David Generelo, Matuzalem and Pablo Aimar are out injured, but Peter Luccin is likely to return from injury and Sergio will return after suspension to partner Roberto Ayala in defence.
Probable Starting XI: Cesar, Diogo, Ayala, Sergio, Juanfran, Celades, Luccin, Sergio Garcia, Zapater, Ricardo Oliveira, Milito.
Real Murcia
Francisco Gallardo is out injured and could be joined by Juan Ochoa who is doubtful for Sunday's fixture. Mario Regueiro returns from injury and will most probably take Abel's place in the starting eleven.
Rosinei's registration problems have finally been sorted and he will be part of the squad, although it is highly unlikely he will be in the starting eleven.
Possible Starting XI: Notario, De Coz, Arzo, Mejia, Pena, Regueiro, Movilla, Pablo Garcia, De Lucas, Baiano, Goitom.
PREDICTION
Zaragoza will be looking to bounce back from their loss to Racing in mid-week and Garitano will be fired up to get a result in his first home league game in charge. They are likely to attack Murcia from the off and although Lucas Alcarez's team do have a decent defensive record, I cannot see them surviving the initial onslaught. Zaragoza have been threatening to give someone a thrashing for months and unfortunately for Murcia, I think that they might just be the team on the receiving end.
Real Zaragoza 4 - 1 Real Murcia
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