La Liga Preview: Mallorca - Sporting

ReaL Mallorca will not be able to take anything for granted when they entertain Sporting de Gijón this weekend despite going into the game on the back of two successive victories and a run of four games without defeat.

The Balearic Islanders were widely tipped to struggle after seeing several of their key players leave after the club received offers that they could not refuse given the precarious financial situation.

But once again coach Gregorio Manzano has been able to mould a side that knows how to earn hard-fought victories that have seen them make a very encouraging start to the new campaign and all indications suggest that mid-table once again looks highly plausible.

After losing to Valencia on the opening day, Mallorca earned points from back-to-back draws against Osasuna and Deportivo La Coruña to gain some confidence and they took that into their next two matches.

Nuamncia were defeated at Son Moix before Racing Santander were beaten in El Sardinero in what was certainly Manzano's team's best result of the season and saw them move into eighth place in the league.

It may still be early days, but already the signs are good that a struggle to stay up will not be a constant problem even though confidence will continue to be fragile for some time yet.

For that reason, the visit of a team with something to prove could be a test that Mallorca know that they will have to overcome if the results that they have already achieved are to continue to be a platform to build on.

Deserving Supporters

Sporting returned to the top flight at the end of last season and much has been made of the fact that one of the Spanish league's biggest teams had finally return to where they belonged.

A lot was also made of the club's incredible supporters and the fact that they, certainly, deserved to taste some success given their loyalty and ability to create an atmosphere second to none.

It is a shame therefore that after a summer of high expectations in Asturias, the team has been unable to match that and have failed to cope with the big boys in their opening few matches of the campaign.

After slipping to a home defeat on the opening day against Getafe, coach Manuel Preciado's team were involved in a seven-goal thriller when they went down 4-3 at Sevilla.

Their next game was a also a seven-goal thriller, but unfortunately Sporting only scored one of those while Barcelona knocked in six at El Molinón, but things were about to become even more embarrassing.

Seven goals were shipped against Real Madrid, but still the fans stayed behind and continued to sing and the support was there once again the following week when Villarreal snuck a 1-0 victory last weekend.

Now Sporting will be desperate to earn their first point and could view a trip to Mallorca as the chance to present their following with a positive result and the home team will be well aware of that.

RECENT FORM

Real Mallorca

28/09 A 2-1 Racing
25/09 H 2-0 Numancia
21/09 A 0-0 Deportivo
14/09 H 1-1 Osasuna
30/08 A 3-0 Valencia
09/08 A 1-1 WBA

Sporting

27/09 H 0-1 Villarreal
24/09 A 1-7 Real Madrid
21/09 H 1-6 Barcelona
13/09 A 3-4 Sevilla
31/08 H 1-2 Getafe
24/08 H 2-0 AC Milan

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