Levante vs Valencia
Valencia make the short trip across the city on Monday, to take on Levante in a derby which means a big deal to both sides.
Without a win this season, Levante are rock bottom on eight points and already seven from safety while their visitors are searching for former glories and pushing for a European place, currently seventh and one place above Barcelona at the start of the weekend.
While the arrival of the Omicron virus has played havoc with the fixture list in England, the Primera Division has a vaccine uptake of over 93 per cent of its players. 11,000 fans will watch La Liga: Levante vs Valencia on Monday night; and the outcome will set the tone for the Christmas period. Levante come into the game on the back of a Copa del Rey defeat to Alcoyano while Valencia navigated a tie with Arenteiro to make it four wins on the bounce, in all competitions.
The match spells potential trouble for Levante and a more serious problem than losing the local bragging rights.
Talking Points
Levante shooting themselves in the foot
Head coach Alesio Lisci must be scratching his head at the moment. His team has just been dumped out of the Copa del Rey on penalties by RFEF team Alcoyano after their opponents had gone down to ten men. It’s only two weeks since they destroyed Huracan Melilla 8-0 in the first round, but since then they have had a bad fortnight.
In a 4-3 defeat to Espanyol last week they were ahead three times before succumbing to two late goals from Javier Puado. And to rub salt into the wounds Javier Hidalgo, who had already scored for Levante, was sent off for violent conduct. That was a game Lisci would have hoped would be a first win of the season on the hour mark, but Levante self destructed.
They have some firepower up front; centre forward Jose Luis Morales has five goals, while seasoned striker Roger Marti has two, but I think they’ll have bigger problems at the other end of the pitch on Monday night. Llevant are missing defenders Sergio Postigo and Jorge Miramon, as well as Hidalgo, who will be sitting this out at the start of his suspension.
Valencia’s midfield prowess
In contrast Valencia head coach Pepe Bordelas can be more than happy with the way things are going. He has high performers all over the pitch, but it is in the middle of the park where his team has been dominant. Midfield duo Carlos Soler and Goncalo Guedes have five and four goals, Guedes making three assists and Soler two. Guedes scored the opener in Valencia’s 2-1 win over Elche last week taking a long ball from keeper Jasper Cillessen and rifling his shot home from outside the area. 24 year old captain Soler made his national debut this year, and has scored twice in four appearances for Spain and his value is escalating by the week. And these two have the experienced Dane Daniel Wass alongside them to make up an impressive three. Bordelas will be hoping they can expose weaknesses in the Levante defence, as well as Uruguayan striker Maxi Gomez who is a good bet to be on target.
And Bordelas’ defence has a no nonsense look about it. Young centre back Hugo Guillamon has received five yellow cards and a red while, alongside him, Paraguayan Omar Alderete has picked up nine yellows.
History
Valencia can only dream of being in a Champions League draw, but not so long ago the Mestalla Stadium played host to the league champions, as Los Ches won the Primera Division for the fifth and sixth times in 2002 and 2004.
In their 102 year history, Valencia have played 85 seasons in the top flight, in contrast to their more humble neighbours. Levante’s biggest achievement was winning the Segunda Division in 2017. They have finished 15th, 15th, 12th and 14th in their four seasons since, though they did reach as high as sixth in 2011.
Los Ches have won exactly half of the last 30 head to head Levante vs Valencia 2021resultswhile their neighbours have won six and there have been nine draws. Levante won the last meeting, here in March by 1-0, as Roger Marti scored the only goal of the game early in the first half.
Levante have drawn six of their eight home games, losing the other two while Valencia are unbeaten in eight games and have won the last four.
Betting Tip
 |
 | Levante vs Valencia | Valencia Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 1.99 |
| December 21, 04:00 (GMT+8) |
These are desperate times for Llevant and exciting ones for los Ches, and the Levante vs Valencia 2021 betting odds strongly suggest this will be a hard fought game. In fact, the hosts are marginal favourites at SBOTOP odds of 2.55 with the draw at 3.06 and Valencia at 2.62. I’m backing the visitors as their quest for European football gathers momentum.
For an alternative bet, take a look at 2-3 goals at odds of 1.87, or for a long shot, a 1-2 score-line at 9.16.
