Match Result: Valencia v Levante
Valencia pulled off the Great Escape last season to end up finishing eleventh in the La Liga standings. Los Che were hoping to build on a strong finish to the previous campaign this time around although that hasn’t materialised. Despite claiming seven points from their first five league games, it’s been a struggling start for a team who have failed to win any of their last seven in the Spanish top flight.
Carlos Corberan will hope that his team can rediscover the scoring touch which enabled Valencia to claim a 3-0 win over Getafe and then follow up this success with a 2-0 triumph against Athletic Bilbao. They also scored twice away to Espanyol as part of a 2-2 draw although the goals have dried up since then.
Even so, the bookies make them warm favourites to win this Derby del Turia encounter. They have a slightly less than 50% chance of landing a success according to the bookmakers. It’s hard to be too confident of their chances considering that only two of their six home encounters have resulted in a victory.
Levante knew that they would have a tough assignment in terms of staying above three other teams in the division. There have been some encouraging signs as far as their survival hopes are concerned. They might be in the drop zone although a victory in this Friday night encounter would send them up to fifteenth in the standings.
After opening the campaign with three straight defeats, a 2-2 home draw against Real Betis was followed by an unexpected 4-0 success at Girona. They have also been able to claim a 2-0 success away to Real Oviedo, with the team also securing a 1-1 draw at Mallorca. They will look to be well organised at the Mestalla and the pressure is on the home side.
Goals Under/Over
It’s dealer’s choice as far as the Unders and Overs go for the 2.5 goal line. There have been fourteen goals scored across six Valencia home matches thus far. On the road, they have been porous defensively by comparison, shipping fifteen in six clashes. However, with the home support at the Mestalla, we might expect Los Che to run a relatively tight ship defensively.
As for Levante, there have been nineteen goals notched across seven clashes on the road. They are certainly prepared to counter-punch the opposition and four of their previous five games in all competitions has seen the goal tally go over the 2.5 line. However, four of six Valencia home matches have seen Under 2.5. With so much at stake at the bottom of the table, we think a cagier more defensive clash might be on the cards.
BTTS
The La Liga betting sites think there’s a reasonable chance of both teams finding the net in this clash. The head-to-head stats would suggest that BTTS Yes is going to happen. When the sides met twice during the 2021/22 season, we saw Valencia claim a 4-3 success away to Levante before the teams played out a 1-1 draw.
In seven of the previous eight head-to-heads, BTTS Yes has also happened. However, all this data is at least four years old. It does at least suggest that the derby atmosphere is more likely to lead to goals being scored, with Valencia certainly having the onus as the attacking team to go out in search of finding the net.
It looks likely that Levante are going to find the net when you consider they have found the net ten times across seven away clashes. The visitors have scored in six of those seven games and they are surely capable of getting on the scoresheet in this clash. Something along the lines of a 1-1 draw could most certainly happen. That was the outcome in Valencia’s last home clash against Real Betis where Luis Rioja was able to cancel out an opener scored by Cucho Hernandez.
First Goalscorer
Luis Rioja has been on the scoresheet in two of his last three Valencia appearances. The midfielder was among the scorers in a Copa del Rey clash away to Maracena and that came before finding the net against Betis. Perhaps a better option for Los Che is Arnaut Danjuma who has been able to score four times for his team this season.
The former Tottenham and Everton man scored his first goal of the campaign against Getafe in August before finding the net in consecutive clashes against Espanyol and Real Oviedo. Hugo Duro has also found the net four times and three of those goals came in the space of four games, with the Spaniard having a decent strike rate for Valencia.
Carlos Espi is a young forward who might be given a chance to shine by Levante, with the player having notched twice during a recent Copa del Rey encounter against Orihuela. He’s had limited opportunities thus far although might be given the nod. Etta Eyong is virtually certain to be selected and the Cameroonian’s goals could yet keep the team afloat.
Levante will be relying on the 22-year-old for inspiration before the player goes to AFCON and the forward has an impressive six goals on the board already. He was able to score in three successive games earlier in the campaign, with these coming against Real Betis, Girona and Real Madrid.