Real Betis will be looking to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they continue their domestic campaign at home to Valencia on Sunday evening.
Manuel Pellegrini's side, who have drawn their last two La Liga fixtures, are currently sixth in the table, while an inconsistent Valencia occupy 13th position with eight games left.
Match preview
© Reuters
Betis have finished 10th and 15th in their last two campaigns at this level of football, meaning that a top-six position would be regarded as a very successful season for the club.
A record of 14 wins, five draws and 11 defeats from 30 matches has seen the Seville outfit pick up 47 points, which has left them in sixth position, level on points with fifth-placed Real Sociedad.
Sevilla have all but secured a spot in the top four alongside Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and it appears that the race for fifth will be between Real Sociedad, Betis and Villarreal.
Pellegrini's team have only won one of their last four in the league, but they did hold leaders Atletico to a 1-1 draw last time out, with Cristian Tello cancelling out an effort from Yannick Carrasco.
Betis have impressed on home soil this term, picking up 27 points from their 15 matches, and they will be facing a Valencia side with the fourth-worst away record in La Liga this term.
© Reuters
Valencia are not in the mix for a possible European finish this season, and it would not be a surprise to see them finish in the bottom half of the table due to their inconsistent form.
Los Che have only managed eight La Liga wins this season, and a total of 34 points from 30 matches has left them down in 13th, some 13 points behind their opponents in this match.
Javi Gracia's side have won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five in Spain's top flight and will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with Real Sociedad at Mestalla.
Valencia have a squad full of talent but have been unable to put together a positive run of results at any stage of the season, while as mentioned, their away form this term has been poor, winning just two of their 15 matches, collecting only 10 points, which is the same as Elche, Getafe and Alaves.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Betis will again be without the services of Victor Camarasa and Dani Martin through injury, but Borja Iglesias is expected to shake off a hip problem to lead the home side's attack.
Victor Ruiz is available following a one-game suspension, meanwhile, and could replace Marc Bartra in the middle of the defence.
Andres Guardado is also back from an adductor injury and is likely to feature in midfield, which could see Sergio Canales move to a more advanced area for Pellegrini's side.
As for Valencia, both Maxi Gomez and Gabriel Paulista will serve suspensions this weekend, while Jasper Cillessen is still unavailable for selection due to a knee injury.
Paulista's absence could see Hugo Guillamon feature in the middle of the defence, while Kevin Gameiro is in line to replace Gomez, who was shown a red card in the draw with Real Sociedad.
There are not expected to be many alterations elsewhere, though, with the likes of Denis Cheryshev, Daniel Wass and Goncalo Guedes set to retain their spots in the starting XI.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Emerson, Mandi, Ruiz, Moreno; Guardado, Rodriguez; Fekir, Canales, Ruibal; Iglesias
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Domenech; Correia, Guillamon, Diakhaby, Gaya; Wass, Soler, Racic, Cheryshev; Guedes, Gameiro
We say: Real Betis 2-1 Valencia
This has all of the makings of a very tight match, and both sides will believe that they can hurt the other in the final third of the field. Betis certainly have more to play for at this stage of the season, though, and we are backing the home team to edge a tight encounter on Sunday.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Real Betis win with a probability of 46.12%. A win for Valencia had a probability of 28.14% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Betis win was 1-0 with a probability of 11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.18%) and 2-0 (8.25%). The likeliest Valencia win was 0-1 (8.17%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.24%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.1% likelihood.
