Valladolid vs Valencia - How Will Valencia React To Last Weekend's Major Setback?

Next Sunday night, Valencia will measure forces against Valladolid at the Nuevo José Zorrilla Stadium for round 32 of Liga BBVA. Los Che had a major setback last weekend when they sucumbed at home against a Getafe side that has been dwelling behind the relegation line for quite some time. Juan Antonio Pizzi’s honeymoon at Valencia is definitely over as the club’s problems are begin to show as the time goes by. Valencia collected the second defeat in just four matches and the team’s hopes of grabbing a place that provided them with European football next season vanished away.

For next Sunday’s match, the Hispano-Argentinean head coach will not be able to count on the French defender Jeremy Mathieu, who was sent off against Getafe. The absence of this experienced defender will probably open the door for the return of the young Portuguese centre back Rubén Vezo to the team. Ricardo Costa and Diego Alves will also miss the next match due to long term injuries.

Valladolid, who are second from the bottom at the league table, grabbed an important home win last weekend against Almería. Juan Ignacio Martinez’s boys have been enjoying some good moments, particularly when playing at the Nuevo José Zorrilla Stadium and they would certainly like to extend their eight match unbeaten run. Valladolid have already defeated the all-powerful Barcelona at home this season and they are relying on their home matches to secure a place at the Spanish top flight next season.

When both teams met later last year, Valladolid managed to grab an important 2-2 draw at Mestalla and to aggravate the crisis Valencia was going through at that time even further. History might repeat itself next Sunday on what will certainly be a very close match between a side (Valencia) that is still searching for its identify and another one (Valladolid) that is desperately struggling against the ghost of relegation.

Valladolid

W-6 L-13 D-12

Recent Form - WLDLW

Valencia

W-11 L-13 D-7

Recent Form - DLWDL

Possible Line-ups

Valladolid (4-4-2) – Jaime - Rukavina - Mitrovic - J. Rueda - Peña - V. Pérez - Rubio - Larsson - Óscar - J. Guerra - Manucho

Valencia (4-2-3-1) - Guaita - Barragán - Senderos - Rubén Vezo - Bernat - Oriol Romeu - J. Fuego - Vargas - Parejo - Feghouli - P. Alcácer

Prediction: Valladolid 1 Valencia 1