Las Palmas against Eldense is a meeting of two sides that were each wasteful in different ways last time out. Las Palmas were 2-0 up by the 26th minute at Oviedo, then watched the hosts take 22 shots and pull it back to 3-2. Eldense had 59% of the ball and six shots on target against Granada and still lost 2-0. So who closes games better: a home side that lets a lead get nervous, or a visitor that has the ball but doesn't turn it into goals?
I'd lean on the Las Palmas side of that for the first phase. Per our records they score early when they get the ball high (Fuster's goal and Jesé's penalty both came inside half an hour at Oviedo), and they went to extra time at Alcalá in the Copa a week before that, winning 3-1 after 120 minutes. That is a lot of minutes for a squad that then conceded 22 shots away from home.
Eldense's picture is the mirror. Our season numbers have them at 13 scored and 17 conceded in 12 league games, 4W 2D 6L, against Las Palmas at 17 and 21 from 12 (5W 2D 5L). The Granada loss shows a team that can hold the ball (501 passes) but had only 5 shots inside the box from 13, with most of the rest from distance. They did win 1-0 at Baleares in the Copa days earlier, so there is some confidence there.
My question for people who follow the league: does Eldense's patient possession give Las Palmas' back line enough reason to drop off, or does the home side's habit of conceding chances late make a slow build-up more dangerous than the raw shot numbers suggest? I don't have an availability list for this one, so I'm not claiming anything about absences.
