The latest edition of the Valencia derby will take place at Mestalla on Saturday evening, as top-10 hopefuls Valencia welcome relegation-threatened Levante for a key battle.
Valencia lost on penalties to Real Betis in the Copa del Rey final last weekend, while Levante, who sit 19th in the table, will enter the match off the back of a 3-2 home defeat to Sevilla.
Match preview
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Valencia's Hugo Duro cancelled out an early effort from Real Betis forward Borja Iglesias in last weekend's Copa del Rey final, with the contest ultimately being decided by a penalty shootout, and it was the Green and Whites that triumphed 5-4 on spot kicks, as Yunus Musah missed a crucial effort at 3-3.
Real Betis were arguably deserved winners due to their superiority on the night, and the result made it three straight defeats for Valencia, with the team also losing their last two in the league to Osasuna and Villarreal.
Los Che are currently 10th in the table, boasting 42 points from their 33 matches, just two points behind ninth-placed Osasuna, but they are also only four points clear of 14th-placed Elche.
As a result, a lot could change in the final weeks of the campaign, and Jose Bordalas's side have two tough matches after this one against Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis before taking on Espanyol and Celta Vigo in their final two league fixtures of the season.
Valencia have won 21 of their 37 matches against Levante in all competitions, suffering just eight defeats in the process, and they recorded a 4-3 victory in the reverse game between the two rivals back in December.
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Levante have incredibly never beaten Valencia at Mestalla, which is an indication of the size of their task this weekend, but it would be the perfect time to end that long winless run.
Indeed, the Frogs are battling for their lives towards the bottom of the division, currently sitting in 19th position, boasting 25 points from their 33 matches, which has left them six points behind 17th-placed Cadiz.
Alessio Lisci's side recorded an impressive 4-1 win over Granada on April 17 but could not build on that result, losing 3-2 at home to Sevilla last Thursday, and they will need to put together a brilliant run in the latter stages of the season to avoid being relegated for the first time since 2016.
Levante will face Real Sociedad and Real Madrid in their two matches after this one, before ending the season with games against Alaves and Rayo Vallecano, but it remains to be seen whether they are still alive heading into the final straight.
Lisci's team have only picked up nine points from their 16 away league matches this season, but Valencia's home form this term has been disappointing, collecting just 22 points from 16 fixtures.
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Team News
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Valencia will be missing Ilaix Moriba this weekend due to the yellow card that the midfielder picked up in the 2-0 defeat to Villarreal on April 19.
Los Che are otherwise in strong shape, and it would not be a surprise to see close to the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Real Betis last weekend.
Moriba's absence, though, will open the door for Uros Racic to feature in midfield, while there could be a change on the right, with Thierry Correia pushing to replace Dimitri Foulquier.
As for Levante, Roger Marti, Shkodran Mustafi, Martin Caceres, Jorge de Frutos and Carlos Clerc remain on the sidelines for this weekend's Valencia derby.
Sergio Postigo is also a major doubt due to the problem that forced him to be withdrawn in the first half against Sevilla last time out, so Oscar Duarte could come into the back five.
Jose Luis Morales and Dani Gomez should again play as a front two, but there could be an alteration in the middle of the park, with Enis Bardhi potentially taking the place of Gonzalo Melero.
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Diakhaby, Paulista, Alderete; Correia, Guillamon, Racic, Gaya; Soler, Guedes, Duro
Levante possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Miramon, Rober, Duarte, Vezo, Son; Radoja, Pepelu, Bardhi; D Gomez, Morales
We say: Valencia 2-1 Levante
It is difficult to ignore Levante's record at Mestalla, with Valencia enjoying so much success at home against their bitter rivals. The visitors need the points to boost their relegation hopes, but we are finding it tough to back anything other than a home success on Saturday evening.
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 Valencia win with a probability of 50.5%. A win for Levante had a probability of 25% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Valencia win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.73%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.58%) and 2-0 (8.84%). The likeliest Levante win was 0-1 (7.07%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.63%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood.
