La Liga: Levante and Valencia Gear Up For Another Derby Battle

Levante vs Valencia

The Derby del Turia will be a key La Liga match to watch out for this weekend as two proud Spanish top-flight clubs look to climb their way up into the upper half of the standings.

Levante own the slight edge since they are 11^th at the table with 32 points, whereas Valencia are right below them at 12^th with 30 points.

Valencia are fresh from a win over Villarreal in the last time out and they will be aiming to make it two wins in a row for the first time this season.

On the other hand, Levante will be looking for some home comfort after enduring a narrow defeat to Real Sociedad last Monday.

It is clear that both clubs need to step up given their lacklustre campaigns so far. Valencia in particular were expected to be at least in contention for an European qualification, but they have yet to fully hit their stride.

The hosts, meanwhile, have shown some flashes of what they are capable of but their recent La Liga 2021 results have hindered them from achieving their full potential.

Today at SBOTOP, we examine these two teams here in our match preview.

Talking Points

Levante look to shake off their inconsistency

Paco Lopez is hopeful that his team will turn things around soon given that they had a miserable month last February.

Levante only won one of their last eight matches and they were recently eliminated in the Copa del Rey semifinals by Athletic Bilbao in a 3-2 aggregate.

Levante's Enis Bardhi is looking for an opportunity to score in their La Liga game vs Bilbao — Levante’s Enis Bardhi in action with Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Nunez

Their sole win in the said stretch was their upset against Atletico Madrid last February 20 as the Frogs caught Los Rojiblancos on an off night defensively.

Los Granotas enjoyed an own goal from Mario Hermoso and a late score by Jorge de Frutos and their backline stood firm against the La Liga leaders who had 28 total shots.

Needless to say that Levante need to replicate such form on a more consistent basis in order for them to move up at the table.

Levante can go to as high as the eighth place should things go according to plan.

Los Granotas need to grab a victory here versus Valencia and then Athletic Bilbao, Celta Vigo, and Granada would have to lose or draw their respective games in order to earn the points advantage.

Unfortunately for them, however, their midfield depth will take a hit as Jose Campana, Gonzalo Melero, and Nemanja Radoja are likely to sit out due to injuries, while they will also miss a key defender in Sergio Postigo.

Valencia need to solve their road woes

I initially thought that their last game would’ve been Javi Gracia’s last act, but a vital win over Villarreal put him out on the hot seat for now.

Their game against the Yellow Submarine was a hard-earned one especially since it was a heated affair.

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Carlos Soler, Uros Racic, Maxi Gomez, and Jose Gaya were all booked for yellows and all of them will miss this upcoming game since they’ll have to serve their one-game suspensions.

Yunus Musah, Kevin Gameiro, Toni Lato, Christian Oliva, and Lee Kang-In are likely to be called upon to fill in the void, while Goncalo Guedes will be tasked to pull out his shooting boots once more.

Valencia have failed to win 22 of their last 24 road games here in La Liga, making them the underdogs in this contest.

History

Over the years, Valencia have had a good head-to-head record over Levante.

In their 28 matches together, Los Che have won 14 times while Los Granotas managed only nine victories along with five draws.

Their earlier meeting last September was arguably one of the best matches we’ve seen to kick off the 2020/21 season.

Jose Luis Morales’ brace almost gave Levante the victory, but Gabriel Paulista, Maxi Gomez, and Dani Parejo conspired to complete the 4-2 win for Los Che.

Betting Tip

	Levante vs Valencia	Levante Asian Handicap -0.00 @ 1.59
	March 13, 04:00 (GMT+8)

The La Liga 2021 odds favour the home side to come away with the three points this weekend.

Levante are backed to win at 2.17, while Valencia are priced to win at 3.20 and chances for a draw are at 3.35 in the 1X2 market.

Given their win last week, Los Che will be brimming with confidence going into this game and they will be eager to prove themselves yet again.

However, their putrid form on the road is quite alarming and much of their last week’s lineup will miss this game because of suspensions, leaving Javi Gracia in a difficult position.

Levante too are undermanned but Paco Lopez should have enough weapons to carry out another home victory.