Valencia vs Valladolid Preview
Watch Valencia vs Valladolid Preview, as Valencia hosts Valladolid on the La Liga contest on today evening at Mestalla. As Valencia is placed on the 18th position of the la Liga table, Valladolid is placed on the 14th position of the points table.
The hosts returned to winning ways after four games as they recorded a 2-0 away win over local rivals Elche on Sunday. The win helped them climb to 18th place in the league table. They have 30 points to their name from as many games, the same as 17th-placed Almeria, and need at least a point from the game to climb out of the relegation zone.
Valencia ended a four-game winless run with a 2-0 victory at Elche last time out, despite seeing just thirty four percentage of the ball at the home of the basement dwellers, who find themselves 15 points adrift at the foot of the La Liga table.
Although Valencia sit 17 points clear of Elche, Ruben Baraja’s side remain in the bottom three with eight games remaining, having managed to win just eight of their 30 league outings this season.
Ruben Baraja took up the Mestalla hot seat in February following the sacking of Gennaro Gattuso, but the new manager has failed to steady the ship up to now, overseeing three wins, one draw and five losses since arriving at the club.
When you look at the bigger picture, Valencia have lost 11 of their last 16 La Liga matches, taking 11 points from a possible 48 to keep them in the relegation dogfight.
Los Che can take confidence from the fact that they boast the best defensive record in the bottom half, having conceded 36 goals in 30 games, but they must pick up points on a consistent basis if they want to avoid the drop.
Team News and Injury
Valencia look set to be without injured stars Justin Kluivert, Thierry Correia and Marcos Andre for the foreseeable future, while there are question marks over the fitness of Samu Castillejo.
Having scored against Elche last time out, Brazilian forward Samuel Lino is expected to keep his place in attack alongside veteran striker Edinson Cavani, who has netted seven goals across all competitions this season.
At the opposite end of the pitch, highly-rated goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili will continue behind the centre-back trio of Cenk Ozkacar, Mouctar Diakhaby and Gabriel Paulista.
Real Valladolid have reported no fresh injury problems ahead of Thursday’s clash, although Moroccan midfielder Anuar remains a long-term absentee.
Selim Amallah and Monchu have both scored two goals in three games since the managerial change, so they will continue to support Club Brugge loanee Cyle Larin, who has bagged five goals and two assists in 11 outings since arriving at the club.
Valencia vs Valladolid head-to-head stats
The two teams have squared off 93 times in all competitions since 1948, with all but four meetings taking place in La Liga. The visitors have been the better side in these meetings with 43 wins to their name. The visitors have 25 wins and 25 games have ended in draws.
The hosts have suffered just one defeat against the visitors in their last 13 games. They have suffered just one defeat since 2002 at home against Valladolid, scoring at least two goals in seven games in that period. Six of Valencia’s eight wins in La Liga this season have come at home. Just three of Valladolid’s 10 wins in La Liga this term have come in their travels.
Valladolid have scored two or more goals in just two of their 15 away games in La Liga this season. Only first-placed Barcelona (4) have played fewer draws than the visitors (5) in La Liga this season.
Valencia vs Valladolid Prediction
Given that Real Valladolid have the third-worst offensive record in La Liga and Valencia have the best defensive record in the bottom half we expect the relegation rivals to play out a cagey stalemate at the Mestalla
