Predictions La Liga - Real Betis vs Girona

La Liga -  Real Betis vs Girona
Match Time: 16-08-2024 02:30 Friday (GMT+7)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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After enjoying three seasons of top-six finishes, Betis were unable to repeat the feat in the 2023-24 campaign, falling just short of sixth-placed Real Sociedad.

Although they had to settle for seventh spot, Los Verdiblancos secured Europa Conference League qualification, ensuring that they will participate in European competition for a fourth consecutive season.

Betis have seen several players depart since the end of last season, including Chadi Riad, German Pezzella, Juan Miranda, Guido Rodriguez, Willian Jose and Borja Iglesias.

They have also bid farewell to Euro 2024 winner Ayoze Perez, who completed a permanent move to fellow La Liga club Villarreal on Tuesday.

While they have experienced significant departures, Betis have made a number of permanent additions, recruiting Marc Roca, Diego Llorente, Romain Perraud, Ricardo Rodriguez, Adrian and Iker Losada.

Manuel Pellegrini's side will head into their league opener after an inconsistent pre-season which has seen them record two wins, two draws and two defeats.

Girona were the surprise package in the 2023-24 campaign, threatening to mount a title challenge before weathering a small drop-off to clinch a historic third-placed finish.

After qualifying for Europe in just their fourth top-flight campaign, Girona are now looking forward to competing against some of the continent's biggest clubs in the Champions League.

Unfortunately for Girona, they have lost three of their most influential players from last season, having bid farewell to Savinho, Aleix Garcia and Artem Dovbyk.

Having seen those players depart, the Catalan club have delved into the transfer market to bolster their squad with the additions of Ladislav Krejci, Alejandro Frances, Oriol Romeu, Gabriel Misehouy, Donny van de Beek, Bryan Gil and Abel Ruiz.

The wholesale changes to the squad have seemingly had any adverse on Girona's pre-season results, with their seven friendlies producing one win, three defeats and three draws.

Girona will hope to put those underwhelming results behind them as they go in search of their first away win over Real Betis since recording a 1-0 win in a Segunda Division clash in March 2010.

Prediction: Real Betis 2-2 Girona