Next Sunday, 25th of January 2015, Valencia will take on Sevilla at the emblematic Mestalla Stadium for round 20 of the Spanish Liga BBVA, on a match of the utmost importance for both sides, since it is the 4th place of the league table that is at stake.

After a painful Copa del Rey elimination at the hands of Espanyol last week, Valencia have struggled to overcome the modest Almeria at home on Saturday. Los Che clinched a narrow 3-2 win thanks to a late goal from Alvaro Negredo but experienced plenty of difficulties to defeat the Andalusian side, who were able to withstand Valencia’s attack throughout almost the entire match and showed at the same time some clinical finishing, having scored two goals from just two shots on goal. The Israeli striker Tomer Hemed, who netted in Almeria’s both goals, almost ruined the afternoon for Valencia, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s men showed a great attitude, especially on the second-half, and ended up by picking up a well deserved win.

Valencia’s elimination from Copa del Rey was a huge blow to the team’s morale, since Los Che were hoping to, at least, reach the semi-finals or even the final of the competition. Nuno Espirito Santo, who by the way is doing a fantastic job on his first year at the helm of the team, now has to find a way to motivate his players for continue their heroic campaign until the end of the season and secure a place on the UEFA Champions League playoffs round next year.

The upcoming match against Sevilla will definitely be a very close one, but Los Che enjoy from a slight favouritism since they are playing at home in front of their highly enthusiastic friends. For that particular clash, the Portuguese manager will probably still not be able to rely on the contributions of Barragan and Piatti, both currently sidelined due to injury.

As for Sevilla, the current UEFA Europa League winners are enjoying a very good moment at La Liga and their last league defeat was back in November at the hands of Barcelona. Despite of their excellent form, Sevilla weren’t able to overcome Espanyol last Thursday on the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals at Catalunya as they lost by 3-1 after a vintage performance from the home side.

Their manager, Unai Emery, will need to work his magic, in order to recover his players in time for the next Sunday’s important match at Mestalla, and he will not have plenty of time to achieve that. For that particular match, Unai Emery will not be able to rely on the services of Stephane Mbia, who is representing his country at the African Cup of Nations.

Valencia

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

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Sevilla

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

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Possible Line-ups

Valencia (3-5-2) - Diego Alves - Gayá - Otamendi - Mustafi - Javi Fuego - André Gomes - Parejo - Enzo Perez - Rodrigo - Paco Alcacer - Negredo

Sevilla (4-2-3-1) - Beto - Coke - Pareja - Carriço - Figueiras - Krychowiak - Iborra - Deulofeu - Reyes - Banega - Bacca

Prediction

Valencia 2 Sevilla 1