Valencia vs Levante

Relegation-threatened Levante head to the Estadio de Mestalla to take on out-of-sorts Valencia, knowing anything other than a victory would probably result in another La Liga relegation.

Things are not going Valencia’s way of late, as a disheartening 2-0 defeat at Villarreal last time out made it no win in four La Liga matches (D2, L2) for Jose Bordalas’ mid-table side. A return to Mestalla does not offer much in terms of comfort and confidence, with ‘Los Murcielagos’ picking up just one triumph in their last seven La Liga home fixtures (D3, L3). A lack of firepower up front saw Valencia score under 1.5 goals in all six matches they didn’t win in that sequence. Against this backdrop, they have bagged 2+ goals in seven of their last eight La Liga home meetings with Levante (W6, D2). In fact, Valencia are unbeaten in their 15 La Liga games against this opposition at Mestalla (W10, D5).

Meanwhile, Levante’s bid to pull off one of the most sensational comebacks in La Liga survival races took a massive heat last weekend as they succumbed to a 3-2 home defeat to Sevilla. Levante’s patchy five-game form that has seen them alternate between losses (3) and triumphs (2) leaves them a whopping seven points adrift of safety. With no margin for error, the ‘Granotes’ will be looking to win back-to-back La Liga away games for the first time this season following an overwhelming 4-1 thumping of Granada in their most recent league road trip. But Alessio Lisci’s men will have to improve their second-half showings if they are to bolster their chances of picking up a first-ever La Liga win at Mestalla, having lost a league-high 20 points via goals conceded after the half-time break this season.