Real Betis vs Valencia

Estadio Benito Villamarín is the venue as Real Betis and Valencia go head-to-head in an exciting La Liga match-up.

Betis snatched away a late winner to beat Rayo Vallecano 3-2 at home over the weekend and move to fifth in the La Liga table. ‘Los Verdiblancos’ have now won four of their last five league fixtures (L1), as many victories as they had across their 15 outings in the competition beforehand (W4, D10, L1). Betis should be confident of maintaining their eye-catching form here, considering they go up against a Valencia side they’ve lost to just twice in their last nine top-flight H2Hs at home (W5, D2). Interestingly, Manuel Pellegrini’s men have netted 2+ goals in three of their previous four La Liga H2Hs at Benito Villamarín, which has been the case in their last three league matches at this venue overall. It’s worth noting that six (75%) of Betis’ La Liga home goals scored this term have come before half-time.

On the other hand, Valencia go into this round amid a rough patch, having failed to win any of their last six La Liga matches (D3, L3), including a 2-2 home draw with Mallorca over the weekend. Getting back to winning ways could be daunting here, as Jose Bordalas’ men have gone winless in their last ten La Liga visits to Andalusian sides (D4, L6), their longest such streak in the competition since 1977. Given Betis’ electric first-half home performances, Valencia should be wary of the fact that seven of their eight La Liga away goals conceded this season have arrived before half-time. Indeed, Valencia’s sloppy entries on the road have seen them fail to keep a clean sheet within 15 minutes of play in three of their four league trips to date.