Valencia vs Espanyol Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Feb 11, 2016 @ 01:23 am

Next Saturday, 13th of February 2016, a disheartened Valencia will take on an extremely fragilized Espanyol at the emblematic Mestalla for Round 24 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

Last Sunday, Valencia allowed Real Betis to return to winning ways at Benito Villamarin while they also suffered their eighth league defeat in 23 matches. Gary Neville, who took the helm of Valencia after Nuno Espirito Santo’s departure, has not yet managed to win any of the 12 league matches that he has commanded and he is leaving the team’s supporters on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Besides their catastrophic league campaign, Gary Neville’s Valencia have also been eliminated from Copa del Rey this week, thus failing to secure a draw in the tournament’s final. Los Che were smashed by Barcelona 8-1 on aggregate and after losing 7-0 at Camp Nou, the best thing they managed was to grab a 1-1 draw at Mestalla in the second-leg match.

For next weekend’s crucial match against Espanyol, Phil Neville will not be able to rely on the services of Gaya, André Gomes and Shkodran Mustafi, who are all currently suspended. Siqueira, Enzo Pérez, Pablo Piatti and Javi Fuego, who are all still recovering from their respective injuries, are in doubt out there.

As for Espanyol, the Catalan team is also going through an extremely negative period and last Monday’s heavy defeat against Real Sociedad is the living proof of that. Espanyol couldn’t have started the match against the Basque team in a worst way, since on minute 8’ they were already losing by 2-0. Things are not easy for Constantin Galca, who took the reins of Espanyol later last year, and pundits have already claimed that his place as Espanyol’s head coach might be at stake.

After conceding 11 goals in the last two league matches, next weekend’s visit to Mestalla is of the utmost importance for the Catalan team. For that particular match, Constantin Galca will not be able to rely on the contribution of the Lithuanian goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis, who is currently injured. Hernan Perez, Arbilla and Ruben Duarte, who are still recovering from minor injuries, are in doubt out there.

Valencia

Stats: W-1 L-3 D-1

Recent Form - DLLLW

Espanyol

Stats: W-0 L-4 D-1

Recent Form - LLDLL

Possible Line-ups

Valencia (4-5-1) – Ryan - Aderlan - Abdennour - Cancelo - Barragan - André Gomes - Dani Parejo - Zahibo - Feghouli - Cheryshev - Negredo

Espanyol (4-2-3-1) - Pau - Lopez - Gonzalez - Roco - Fuentes - Joan Jordan - Diop - Asensio - Moreno - Burgui - Caicedo

Injury List / Suspended Players

Valencia - Enzo Pérez (in doubt) - Piatti (in doubt) - Javi Fuego (sus) - Siqueira (sus) - Gaya (sus) - Mustafi (sus) - André Gomes (sus)

Espanyol - Arlauskis (inj) - Pérez (in doubt) - Arbilla (in doubt) - Ruben Duarte (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions