Valencia vs Elche - Who Will Win The Comunidad Valenciana Derby?

Next Sunday afternoon, Valencia will be hosts to their neighbours Elche at the emblematic Mestalla Stadium for round 33 of Liga BBVA on a match where the home side will try to put an end to their recent negative row of results.

After being surprised at home by a brave Getafe side two weeks ago, Valencia didn’t manage to get anything better than a draw from their travel to the Nuevo José Zorrilla stadium, where they measured forces with Valladolid, a side struggling against the relegation spectrum.

Valencia are definitely not enjoying the best of times both on domestic and on international competitions. Los Che were hammered last Thursday at St Jakob Park in Switzerland by FC Basel and have seriously compromised their future at the UEFA Europa League. To make things worse, their life at Liga BBVA is also far from being a paradise since the team has only managed to win one of their last six matches.

For next Sunday’s clash, the Hispano-Argentinean manager will still not be able to count on Diego Alves, Ricardo Costa and Victor Ruiz, all of them sidelined due to injury.

On the other hand, Valencia’s neighbours Elche have been enjoying a positive run for their three last matches, all passed without knowing the sour taste of defeat. Last Sunday, Los Franjiverdes grabbed a vital win against Getafe and climbed one place at the league table thanks to a late goal from the Ghanaian forward Richmond Boakye.

Elche are still not safe from relegation since they are only four above Getafe, who are third from the bottom and are the first team below the relegation line.

For next Sunday’s clash, the team’s manager, Fran Escribá is not yet certain if he will be able to count on the Spanish midfielder Aaron Niguez and on the team’s captain Edu Albácar, both struggling with injuries. The Spanish manager will also not be able to count on the Spanish U21 international attacking midfielder Carles Gil since he is on loan from Valencia, thus not being allowed to play against Los Che.

When both teams met last November at Martínez Valero, the home side grabbed an important 2-1 win with goals from Fidel and Cristian Herrera.

Valencia

Stats: W-11 L-13 D-8

Recent Form: LWDLD

Elche

Stats: W-8 L-13 D-11

Recent Form: DLDDW

Possible Line-ups

Valencia (4-2-3-1) - Guaita - João Pereira - J. Fuego- Rubén Vezo - Bernat - Oriol Romeu - Keita - Vargas - Parejo - Piatti- P. Alcácer

Elche (4-2-3-1) – M. Herrera - Suárez - Botía - Pellegrín - Cisma - R. Pérez - C. Sánchez - Fidel - Coro - J. Márquez - C. Herrera

Prediction: Valencia 2 Elche 0