The bottom two teams in Spain's top flight will lock horns for a relegation six-pointer on Saturday afternoon, as basement side Levante welcome 19th-placed Cadiz to Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.
The home team recorded a 2-0 victory over Mallorca in their last league game on January 8, while Cadiz will enter the match off the back of a 2-2 draw with Espanyol on Tuesday night.
Match preview
© Reuters
Levante finally managed to record their first La Liga victory of the season against Mallorca last time out, with Roberto Soldado and Jose Luis Morales scoring the goals in a 2-0 success at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.
The Frogs remain rooted to the bottom of the table on 11 points, seven points from the safety of 17th position, but the victory will have certainly boosted their confidence, and there is enough football between now and the end of the season to pull themselves out of the bottom three.
Levante have finished 15th, 15th, 12th and 14th in La Liga since returning to this level, but they will have to put together some consistency in the final months of the season to avoid being relegated for the first time since finishing 20th in 2015-16.
Alessio Lisci's side will view this match as the ideal chance to put another three points on the board, but Cadiz have been relatively impressive on their travels this term, picking up nine points, three more than they managed in front of their own supporters.
Levante have also not beaten Cadiz in the league since February 2010, with each of their last three top-flight meetings finishing level, including a 1-1 in the reverse match earlier this season.
© Reuters
Cadiz, meanwhile, will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with Espanyol on Tuesday evening, which followed a penalty-shootout success over Sporting Gijon in the Copa del Rey.
The Yellow Submarine have actually won two of their last four matches in all competitions, suffering just one defeat in the process, while they were on the verge of beating Espanyol on Tuesday, with Ivan Alejo seemingly netting the winner in the 91st minute, only for Raul de Tomas to level the scores in the final moments.
Sergio Gonzalez's side have won two, drawn nine and lost 10 of their 21 league matches this season to collect 15 points, which has left them in 19th spot in the table, four points ahead of Levante, but they have played one game more than the side currently at the bottom of the division.
Los Piratas finished 12th in La Liga last season but have found it more difficult to compete this term, and the Yellows are bidding to make it back-to-back campaigns at this level for the first time since 1993.
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- D
- D
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Levante will be without the services of Ruben Vezo, Oscar Duarte and Shkodran Mustafi for this weekend's contest, with Duarte and Mustafi both injured, and Vezo testing positive for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Jose Campana is suspended due to the red card that he picked up against Mallorca, so there will have to be changes from the side that started the team's last match.
Gonzalo Melero is in line to feature in the middle of the park, while there could be a change to a 4-4-2 formation to allow Morales, who was on the scoresheet against Mallorca, to feature in an attacking area.
As for Cadiz, Jose Mari and Jon Ander Garrido remain out through injury, while Juan Cala could miss out with the problem that he picked up against Espanyol.
Victor Chust is therefore in line for a spot in the middle of the defence, while Ruben Sobrino could replace Anthony Lozano to feature alongside Alvaro Negredo in the final third.
Alejo is also in contention to start, having scored off the bench against Espanyol, but it seems likely that the Spaniard will once again be named among the substitutes.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Miramon, Rober, Postigo, Franquesa; Morales, Melero, Pepelu, Bardhi; Marti, Soldado
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Fali, Chust, Espino; Salvi, Alex, Fede, Perea; Negredo, Sobrino
We say: Levante 1-1 Cadiz
There is no downplaying the importance of this match to both sides, and Levante will view it as the perfect chance to put another three points on the board. Cadiz have played their best football away from home this season, though, and we are tipping the visitors to secure a share of the spoils.
Top tip
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 Levante win with a probability of 39.07%. A win for Cadiz had a probability of 32.77% and a draw had a probability of 28.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Levante win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.06%) and 2-0 (7.37%). The likeliest Cadiz win was 0-1 (10.78%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.18%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.
