Two of La Liga’s most depleted teams face off on Saturday night as Eibar welcome Malaga to Ipurua.
Eibar’s run of three straight wins were ended by a 2-0 defeat to Sevilla last weekend, and they take on Malaga with just 16 first-team players due to injuries and suspensions.
Still, Coach Jose Luis Mendilibar expressed positivity about the Basques’ shape as he revealed the secrets to their progress.
“We’re confident and becoming more and more secure,” he said at a Press conference.
“We’re brazen and try to do what we think we need to do. That’s good.
“We’re not too relaxed, neither do we think that we’re better than our opponents. If you don’t run, any other team will be better than you.”
Malaga, meanwhile, are missing eight senior personnel, among them experienced midfielder Ignacio Camacho, who is banned for picking up five yellow cards.
Nonetheless, Marcelo Romero’s men tasted victory for the first time under the Uruguayan at the start of the week, beating Las Palmas 2-1.
“Our objective is to win away from home,” said the trainer before the game, referring to the Andalusians’ failure to triumph on the road this season.
“We need to be very competitive because the match against Eibar is going to be very tense.”
Eibar squad: Yoel, Areitio; Capa, Arbilla, Mauro, Ramis, Lejeune, Luna; Dani, Escalante, Adrian, Rivera, Leon, Inui, Bebe; Pena, Enrich, Josue
Absences: Nano, Rico, Riesgo, Galvez, Junca, Kike
Malaga squad: Kameni, Demichelis, Mikel, Llorente, Juankar, Santos, Charles, Chory, Boyko, Ricca, Penaranda, Duda, Rosales, Keko, Jony, Miguel Torres, Hernandez, Fornals, Ontiveros
Absences: Juanpi, En Nesyri, Kone, Recio, Sandro, Kuzmanovic, Camacho, Rodriguez
Referee: Estrada Fernandez
Kick-off time: 19:45 GMT/20:45 CET
