Promotion to La Liga

Relegation from La Liga promises to be a fascinating battle in the coming weeks and the race for promotion to La Liga is looking quiet tasty as well. The top five have pretty much assured themselves of a play-off place at least with the final play-off spot looking to be contested by as many as five further sides.

1. Real Betis               (65 points)
2. Las Palmas              (59 points)
3. Sporting Gijón         (59 points)
4. Girona                      (59 points)
5. Real Valladolid        (57 points)
6. Real Zaragoza          (49 points)
7. Ponferradina             (49 points)
8. Alavés                       (47 points)
9. Llagostera                 (47 points)
10. Leganés                     (46 points)

Real Betis is the past few weeks have started to pull away from the chasing pack. The chasing pack have all stuttered in the past few weeks which has allowed Betis to climb six points clear. Particularly with Rubén Castro in fine form its hard not to see Betis seal an instant return to La Liga. 

With Betis likely to seal one automatic promotion place the 2nd promotion place is very much there for the taking for someone. Currently Las Palmas occupy the final automatic promotion place after beating fellow promotion hopefuls Girona on Sunday. Just two points separate the four sides. 

Las Palmas

The victims of the most dramatic of promotion play-offs last season, the Gran Canaria side are looking to avoid the play-offs altogether on go up automatically. Their recent form hasn't been invincible with defeats to Albacete and Numancia not boding well for their push. However in their favour is goals, with 54 scored thus far they are the division's top scorers which does bode well for their promotion push. A first La Liga return since 2002 is a must particularly after coming close in recent seasons. 

Sporting Gijón

Sporting have endured a big dip in form recently. Four consecutive draws have allowed their promotion rivals to catch and pass them. They need a first win in a month to restore some confidence but a quick look at they table shows why they have fallen behind Real Betis, draws. The Asturians have drawn 17 games this season which is the highest amount in the division by a distance. They aren't scoring enough goals to convert a good few of those draws into wins, with 43 scored this season they are the lowest scoring side of the promotion hopefuls. Carlos Castro is their top scorer with just 7 goals. They might not have enough firepower to squeeze into the top 2. 

Girona

The Catalans are enjoying a fantastic season. Keeping pace with the promotion race and hoping to emulate Eibar and seal an unexpected promotion to the Primera División. Similar to Sporting, they haven't scored a huge amount but they have dug out some vital wins along the way. Defeat at the weekend to Las Palmas didn't aid their cause but a decent run-in gives them every chance of competing for that final promotion spot. 

Real Valladolid

Aiming for a swift return to the Primera, Valladolid ended a three game losing streak at the weekend to get themselves back on track. A decent run-in gives them a chance and included in that run-in is a clash with Las Palmas which could be a massive game in the hunt for promotion. 

The final play-off spot

With 6th being the final play-off spot and Zaragoza currently 6th only on 49 points the battle for that final spot promises to be as interesting as the promotion race. Leganés in 10th are just three points shy of Zaragoza and its a gap that can be bridged. Between Zaragoza and Leganés are Ponferradina, Alavés and tiny Catalan club Llagostera. Llagostera are an interesting case given that they are newly promoted and are in fine form that has seen them rise from the relegation zone to play-off contention in a matter of two months. With the division so tight more sides could yet join the hunt for 6th the likes of Numancia, Lugo and Alcorcón are all within 7 points of Zaragoza. So it promises to be a very interesting battle throughout the division.