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Opposition lowdown: Elche
Next up is a trip to Alicante for Diego Martínez's men
RCD Espanyol travel down to southern Spain to take on Elche on Sunday.
The two sides are separated by a matter of two places towards the bottom of LaLiga, with a win vital for them both. Elche will look to build on their last result at home while Diego Martínez’s men are searching for a first away win since Getafe.
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Name: Elche CF
Nickname: Los Franjiverdes (The Green Striples)
Manager: Pablo Machín
Stadium: Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero – 33,732 capacity
Last match: L 0-4 vs Real Madrid
Current position: 20th
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The season so far
Elche have had a tough season as they sit bottom of LaLiga and in a desperate fight for survival. Though they lost midweek to defending champions Real Madrid, they secured their first win of the season in their last home match against Villarreal, which may well give them momentum for more in the long run.
Standout player
Pericos will be familiar with Pere Milla after he opened the scoring in their last meeting, as he leads the way in the goalscoring charts for Elche. The winger comes off the back of a vital hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Villarreal and poses the biggest threat on Sunday.
Last time at the RCDE Stadium
Elche were at the Temple back in October this season playing out an end-to-end 2-2 draw. Javi Puado and Martin Braithwaite turned around an early deficit to put Espanyol ahead, before Gonzalo Verdú snatched a point late on for the visitors.
Club links
Carlos Clerc was a canterano of the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque, featuring heavily for Espanyol B though only making three senior appearances. After playing across Spain for the likes of Osasuna and Levante, he signed for Elche at the start of this season where he has been a regular at the back.