Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s friendly clash between Girona and Toulouse, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Girona and Toulouse continue their 2024-25 preparations when they meet at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi on Wednesday.
The Spanish side, playing their fourth pre-season match, attained significant success last season by ending third in LaLiga, and Michel‘s men seek to carry that form into the new season.
Match preview
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While last season was unquestionably glorious for Girona, the third-best club in the Spanish top tier seek to go again in 2024-25.
However, Michel’s side have had an underwhelming off-season, underlined by being winless in fixtures against Olot, Montpellier and Espanyol.
Even though none of those matches have been defeats, Blanquivermells aim to notch a victory at the fourth time of asking after playing out a 1-1 draw in their first match before following that with a six-goal thriller against Montpellier and a goalless encounter with Espanyol.
After firing blanks last time out, Girona seek to get back on the goalscoring trail against their Ligue 1 opponents on Wednesday.
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While their LaLiga opponents have struggled to secure wins in pre-season, Toulouse have had victories in two of their three matches and remain undefeated heading into Wednesday.
Carles Martinez‘s men beat Serie A side Roma on Saturday to follow July 13’s 2-1 triumph over Rodez and the 2-2 tie with Pau a week later.
Their first clean sheet coincidentally came against the ostensibly best side they have played so far, and Les Violets aim to keep their unbeaten run going.
After a campaign that saw the 2023 Coupe de France winners end higher in the league but exit early in the domestic cup, Novell aims to build on their ongoing results to push for a strong start to the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season for a side keen to break into the division’s top half.
Girona friendly form:
Toulouse friendly form:
Team News
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Artem Dovbyk has netted two of Girona’s four goals in the off-season, and last season’s 24-goal man is seemingly set to continue being devastating in the attacking third.
Having sat out the goalless encounter against Espanyol, the Ukraine forward should replace Cristhian Stuani at centre-forward on Wednesday.
Iker Almena and Manu Vallejo have notched the Spanish club’s other two goals, and the pair could play in some capacity against Toulouse.
Yann Gboho was the match-winner for the French club last time out, and the forward hopes to retain his place in the team.
Having fashioned four chances in the game, Denis Genreau hopes to showcase his creativity against the Champions League club
Girona possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Martinez, Krejci, Yaakobishvili, Fernandez; Martin, Lopez, Victor; Chaira, Dovbyk, Almena
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Dominguez; Mawissa, Cresswell, Nicolaisen; Messali, Genreau, Canvot, Aboukhlal; Donnum, Magri, Gboho
We say: Girona 2-2 Toulouse
Firing blanks was anomalous for Girona, who should find the back of the net with Dovbyk expected to return to Michel’s XI. However, a draw could be on the cards as an in-form Toulouse extend their unbeaten pre-season form.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.