Malaga's search for their first victory of the 2026-27 La Liga campaign will continue on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Racing de Santander to Estadio La Rosaleda.

The hosts will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Real Betis, while Racing suffered a 3-0 home loss to Real Madrid last time out.

Match preview

Malaga boast a record of five draws and six defeats from their 11 matches in Spain's top flight this season, with five points leaving them at the bottom of the La Liga table.

The White and Sky Blues did record a 3-0 victory over Alcazar in the Copa del Rey on October 27, but they were unable to back that up, losing 2-1 against Real Betis in their last league fixture.

Juan Francisco Funes' side are already five points from the safety of 17th spot and will certainly be wary of that gap widening ahead of the November international break.

Malaga have faced Racing on 30 previous occasions in all competitions and lead the head-to-head, having posted 13 victories to the latter's nine.

That said, Malaga are winless in their last six matches against Racing, with their last success in this fixture coming back in February 2020 in the Segunda Division.

Racing picked up a point on their last visit to Malaga - in last season's Segunda Division campaign - while they have been victorious in three of the last five games between the two sides, which is a record that will hand them confidence.

The Green and Whites were beaten 3-0 by Real Madrid last time out, with the result leaving them 16th in the La Liga table, picking up 11 points from 11 matches courtesy of a record of three wins, two draws and six defeats.

Jose Alberto's team actually have the worst defensive record in Spain's top flight this season, conceding 29 times in their 11 games, which is eight more than Malaga.

That said, Racing have been relatively strong down the other end, scoring 15 goals, while Malaga have only found the back of the net on eight occasions.

These are the type of matches that could have a big say in determining whether Malaga, Racing or both teams are capable of avoiding relegation this season.

Malaga La Liga form:

Malaga form (all competitions):

Racing de Santander La Liga form:

Racing de Santander form (all competitions):

Team News

Malaga can certainly take plenty of positives from their performance against Real Betis last time out, so it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field.

Adrian Nino has scored five times in seven league appearances for Malaga this season and will once again feature in the final third of the field for the hosts.

However, all of Juan Cruz, Angel Recio, Diego Murillo, Pablo Martinez, Joaquin Munoz, Julen Lopete and Aaron Ochoa are set to miss the match due to fitness issues.

As for Racing, Jorge Salinas will make a welcome return to the squad, having served his suspension against Real Madrid last time out.

However, Andres Martin is once again expected to miss out with a muscular issue; Alvaro Mantilla is also set to be absent with the injury that forced him off early against Real Madrid.

Yassir Zabiri has scored eight times in 11 league appearances this season, and the 21-year-old will continue in the final third of the field.

Malaga possible starting lineup:

Herrero; Puga, Calero, Galilea, Rafita; Enriquez; Larrubia, Dotor, Lorenzo, Aznou; Nino

Racing de Santander possible starting lineup:

Agirrezabala; Felipe, Ramon, Belocian, Salinas; I Martin, Prati; Luque, Canales, Vicente; Zabiri

We say: Malaga 1-1 Racing de Santander

Malaga's winless run will end at some stage, but we are not expecting it to happen this weekend; Racing are capable of picking up a point on the road in this fixture.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.