Preview: Levante vs. Valencia - prediction, team news

Valencia will be looking to make it back-to-back La Liga wins for the first time this season when they continue their campaign away to Levante in the Valencia derby on Friday night.

Los Che, who are currently 12th in the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-1 home victory over Villarreal, while 11th-placed Levante suffered a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad last time out.

Match preview

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Levante's form in December and January was excellent, but there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a largely disappointing last month for the club, who have only won one of their last eight matches.

Paco Lopez 's side saw their hopes of reaching the Copa del Rey final end on March 4 as they suffered a 3-2 aggregate loss to Athletic Bilbao, while they will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad.

Levante have only lost one of their last four in the league, though, and recorded a standout 2-0 victory away to Atletico Madrid on February 20, which was an indication of their capabilities.

A record of seven wins, 11 draws and eight defeats from 26 matches has left them in 11th position in the table, two points clear of 12th-placed Valencia and actually only a point off eighth-placed Athletic Bilbao.

The Frogs have not won Derby del Turia since March 2016, though, and suffered a 4-2 loss when they locked horns with their rivals in the reverse fixture at Mestalla earlier this season.

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Valencia, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of an impressive 2-1 win over Villarreal on March 5; Gerard Moreno 's first-half goal saw the Yellow Submarine take a lead into the final stages, but Carlos Soler and then Goncalo Guedes registered to complete a late turnaround for Los Che.

Javi Gracia 's side, as mentioned, are now bidding to make it back-to-back league victories for the first time this season, with their inconsistent form leaving them down in 12th position in the table.

The six-time Spanish champions have won just seven of their 26 league games this term and currently sit seven points off seventh-placed Villarreal and 12 behind sixth-placed Real Betis.

Los Che are now eight points clear of the relegation zone, though, and appeared to have eased any slight fears that they could be pulled into a battle for survival in the final weeks of the season.

Levante La Liga form:

D

L

D

W

D

L

Levante form (all competitions):

L

D

W

D

L

L

Valencia La Liga form:

W

D

L

W

L

W

Team News

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Levante will again be unable to call upon Sergio Leon, Rober Pier, Sergio Postigo, Nemanja Radoja, Gonzalo Melero or Jose Campana on Friday, with all five players still injured.

Head coach Lopez has options for change, particularly in the final third, with Jorge de Frutos and Roger Marti pushing for positions in the starting XI.

The bulk of the players that started against Real Sociedad should take to the field once again, though, with Ruben Rochina and Enis Bardhi both likely to feature in the middle of the park.

Valencia, meanwhile, will be without the services of Maxi Gomez, Soler, Uros Racic and Jose Gaya through suspension, with all four players picking up bookings in the win over Villarreal.

Cristiano Piccini and Denis Cheryshev will also be absent through injury, but Mouctar Diakhaby is available, having served a one-game suspension against the Yellow Submarine.

Yunus Musah, Kevin Gameiro, Toni Lato and Christian Oliva could be the four players that are handed starts due to the suspensions, while Guedes is pushing to replace Alex Blanco in attack, but the likes of Thierry Correia and Hugo Guillamon should keep their spots.

Levante possible starting lineup:

Cardenas; Son, Coke, Duarte, Vezo, Tono; Rochina, Vukcevic, Bardhi; D Gomez, Morales

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Cillessen; Correira, Gabriel, Guillamon, Lato; Wass, Oliva, Musah, Guedes; Gameiro, Kang-in

We say: Levante 1-1 Valencia

Levante are unbeaten in 11 of their last 12 home league games - drawing seven times in the process - while Valencia have failed to win in 22 of their last 24 away fixtures in La Liga. Both teams will be missing important players, and we are are finding it difficult to back anything other than a low-scoring draw.

Top tip

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