Levante vs Valencia

Estadi Ciutat de València is the venue as Levante and Valencia go head-to-head in a cross-town La Liga derby.

Coming into this matchday, Levante are the only side in La Liga to have failed to win any of their opening 17 league matches (D8, L9) as they head into proceedings nailed to the bottom of the table. Alessio Lisci’s men have become just the third La Liga side to go winless in their inaugural 17 league fixtures. With 17th-placed Elche already seven points clear of them, the ‘Granotes’ are running out of time to get their underwhelming La Liga campaign up and running. Valencia’s visit to the Estadi Ciutat de València could be what the doctor ordered, as Levante have picked up five victories across their last eight top-flight H2Hs on home soil (D2, L1). That said, they’ve only won one of their previous ten La Liga encounters against Valencian opponents (D3, L6), though that solitary success came at the expense of Valencia.

On the other hand, the visitors have hit the ground running since falling to an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at Real Betis in late October, racking up a six-game unbeaten La Liga run since (W3, D3). After drawing three consecutive La Liga fixtures in November, Valencia have record back-to-back 2-1 league victories in December, getting on the scoresheet within 25 minutes of play on each occasion. Another triumph here would see ‘Los Murcielagos’ win three La Liga matches on the trot for the first time since 2019, but their recent away showings suggest otherwise. Jose Bordalas’ men have managed only one victory across their last six La Liga road trips (D2, L3), scoring under 1.5 goals in each game they didn’t win in that sequence.