Preview: Leganes vs. Valencia - prediction, team news, lineups

Leganes will be looking to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation from La Liga when they welcome Valencia to Estadio Municipal de Butarque on Sunday night.

The home side are currently 19th in the table, six points from the safety of 17th position, while Valencia occupy eighth, three points off the top six with three games left.

Match preview

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Leganes have picked up positive results in their last two matches, beating basement side Espanyol 1-0 on July 5 before claiming a decent point away to Eibar on Thursday night.

Javier Aguirre 's side are still in big trouble when it comes to the threat of relegation, though, as they sit 19th in the table, six points behind 17th-placed Alaves.

A lot would have to go their way over the next eight days in order to escape the bottom three, but a victory this weekend would certainly be a huge step in the right direction.

Leganes have the second-worst home form in La Liga this season, though, picking up just 16 points from their 17 matches, suffering nine defeats in the process.

Los Pepineros have actually not lost to Valencia in the league since April 2018, with the last three top-flight meetings between the two sides finishing 1-1.

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Valencia, meanwhile, have shown signs of improvement since Voro replaced Albert Celades as head coach at the end of June, with Los Che picking up four points from their three games since the change of management.

The former Spanish champions will enter this weekend's match off the back of a 2-1 home win over Real Valladolid on Tuesday, which saw them rise into eighth position in the table.

Los Che are actually only three points off sixth-placed Getafe as they bid to make the Europa League, which would not be the worst outcome considering their problems during the 2019-20 campaign.

Valencia's away form this season has been poor, though, winning just three of their 17 La Liga games on the road, suffering 10 defeats in the process, which is the fifth worst in the division.

Leganes La Liga form: DDLLWD

Valencia La Liga form: WLLLDW

Team News

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Leganes will again be without the services of Kenneth Omeruo, Oscar Rodriguez and Guido Carrillo through injury, but the home side have no fresh injury concerns.

Aguirre is likely to resist the temptation to make changes from the side that drew at Eibar last time out, meaning that Javier Eraso might have to accept a spot on the bench once again.

Alexander Szymanowski is available again following injury, but the 31-year-old is likely to remain on the bench, with Miguel Guerrero expected to lead the attack.

As for Valencia, Rodrigo Moreno, Jose Gaya and Cristiano Piccini all remain on the sidelines through injury, but the team did not pick up any issues against Valladolid last time out.

Francis Coquelin, Daniel Wass and Ferran Torres are options for change, although Voro could stick with the same side that picked up a much-needed three points.

Adria Guerrero was preferred to Jaume Costa at left-back against Valladolid and that could again be the case in this match with full-backs Gaya and Piccini still unavailable for selection.

Leganes possible starting lineup:

Cuellar; Rosales, Bustinza, Tarin, Siovas, Silva; Ruibal, Amadou, Perez, Rodrigues; Guerrero

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Domenech; Florenzi, Gabriel, Diakhaby, Guerrero; Soler, Parejo, Kondogbia, Guedes; Gameiro, Gomez

We say: Leganes 1-2 Valencia

Valencia have certainly shown signs of improvement since Celades left the club, and there is no question that Los Che have a squad packed full of talent. Leganes are in desperate need of a win, but we fancy the visitors to pick up all three points at Estadio Municipal de Butarque.