Málaga CF, in 6^th place in the standings with 14 points before the start of the matchday, will face the ‘Perico’ rival at the top of the table with 20 points.

Saúl Ais Reig from Valencia will be officiating tonight. Up to now, he has refereed Málaga CF five times, all in LaLiga SmartBank. The Malaguista results are three victories and two draws. Javier Iglesias Villanueva from Galicia will head up the VAR.

Players in common Málaga CF-RCD Espanyol

Urbano, Rufete, Darío Silva, José Juan Luque, Caicedo, Valdo, Kameni, Sergio Sánchez, Demichelis, Sergi Darder, Roberto, Andrés Prieto, Rosales and Keidi Bare

(*) Calero, current RCD Espanyol player, was part of Atlético Malagueño

(**) Óscar Sielva, a homegrown Espanyol player, was part of Atlético Malagueño

Coaches in common Málaga CF-RCD Espanyol

José Manuel Díaz Novoa and Juande Ramos

Players in common CD Málaga-RCD Espanyol

Navés, Domenech, Meri, Camer, Vera, Soto, Benavídez, Zamora, Carlos Torres, Cabral, Vilches, Fortes, Bio, Fonseca, Lauridsen and Jaime Molina

Coaches in common CD Málaga-RCD Espanyol

Ricardo Zamora, Antonio Barrios, Ernesto Pons, Jeno Kalmar, Marcel Domingo, Milorad Pavic and Ladislao Kubala

(*) José Luis Saso, RCD Espanyol coach, was a CD Málaga player

Players who debuted with Málaga CF against RCD Espanyol at La Rosaleda

• Koke Contreras (Málaga CF 1-0 RCD Espanyol, 22/08/1999)
• Rojas (Málaga CF 1-0 RCD Espanyol, 22/08/1999)
• Darío Silva (Málaga CF 1-0 RCD Espanyol, 22/08/1999)
• Fernando Sanz (Málaga CF 1-0 RCD Espanyol, 22/08/1999)
• Awule Quaye (Málaga CF 0-2 RCD Espanyol, 12/11/2000)
• Alexis (Málaga CF 5-2 RCD Espanyol, 15/02/2004)
• Anderson (Málaga CF 1-2 RCD Espanyol, 11/09/2005)

To take into account

• At home, Málaga CF have won eight points from two victories and two draws in four league games. The lads remain undefeated at home with three goals scored and one conceded.
• Away from home in LaLiga SmartBank, RCD Espanyol have obtained two wins, one draw and one defeat in four matches (seven points). They have scored three goals and conceded one.
• Alberto Escassi remains the only Malaguista player who has played all league minutes (810).
• Chavarría, with two goals, is the highest Malaguista scorer. Raúl de Tomás, with four goals, is the visitor’s top scorer.

Stats and facts

• The first time Málaga CF and RCD Espanyol will face one another in LaLiga Smart Bank.
• In the First Division, there have been 17 matches between these rivals at La Rosaleda, with Malaguista results of eight wins, two draws and seven defeats, with 27 goals scored and 21 conceded.
• In the past five seasons in the silver division, on matchday 10, MCF obtained five defeats (2-0 against CD Badajoz, 0-1 against Real Valladolid, 2-1 against Albacete Balompié and 2-0 against Elche CF and SD Huesca in the last two seasons).