Preview: Real Betis vs. Levante - prediction, team news

Real Betis will be looking to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they continue their campaign at home to Levante on Friday evening.

Manuel Pellegrini 's side, who are currently sixth in the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Sevilla, while ninth-placed Levante recorded a 1-0 victory over rivals Valencia last time out.

Match preview

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Betis are very much in the argument for a top-five finish in La Liga this season as they currently occupy sixth spot in the table, just three points behind fifth-placed Real Sociedad.

The Champions League positions look to be beyond Pellegrini's team, particularly following their 1-0 defeat at fourth-placed Sevilla on Sunday, which has made the gap to the top four nine points.

A spot in next season's Europa League would represent an excellent campaign for Betis, though, and they had put four straight victories on the board before the one-goal loss at Estadio Ramon last weekend.

Los Verdiblancos finished down in 15th position last season and have not ended a campaign higher than sixth since 2004-05, when they claimed fourth to secure a spot in the Champions League.

Betis will be determined to get back on track on Friday evening, but they have lost their last two league meetings with Levante, conceding eight times in the process.

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Levante are another team enjoying a strong season in Spain's top flight, picking up 35 points from their 27 matches to sit ninth in the table, seven points behind Betis ahead of this contest.

The Frogs have finished 15th, 15th and 12th in their three campaigns at this level since returning from the Segunda Division and therefore claiming a top-half spot would represent excellent progress.

Paco Lopez 's side were knocked out by Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey at the start of the month before suffering a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad on March 7.

Levante managed to return to winning ways on March 12, though, as a first-half effort from Roger Marti saw them record a 1-0 win over rivals Valencia.

As mentioned, the Valencia-based outfit have won their last two meetings with Betis, but they suffered a 3-1 loss when the two teams last locked horns in Seville in September 2019.

Real Betis La Liga form:

L

W

W

W

W

L

Levante La Liga form:

L

D

W

D

L

W

Levante form (all competitions):

D

W

D

L

L

W

Team News

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Betis will again be without the services of Dani Martin and Victor Camarasa on Friday through injury, but the home side are otherwise in good shape, with Marc Bartra potentially making his return.

Head coach Pellegrini is expected to resist the temptation to make changes from the side that lost to Sevilla, but there might be a switch in formation from a 4-4-1-1 to a 4-2-3-1.

Nabil Fekir, Sergio Canales and Aitor Ruibal should all keep their spots in the forward areas, while Borja Iglesias could again get the nod over Juanmi and Loren Moron to feature at the tip of the attack.

As for Levante, Sergio Postigo, Nemanja Radoja, Gonzalo Melero and Jose Campana all missed out against Valencia last time out and that will again be the case on Friday night.

Oscar Duarte had to be replaced just before the hour against Los Che, and Rober is on standby to start if the 31-year-old does not recover, but it could otherwise be the same side that started the derby.

Roger Marti's goal should see the Spaniard keep his spot alongside Jose Luis Morales in the final third of the field, while Ruben Rochina could be handed another start in a wide area.

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Joel; Emerson, Mandi, Ruiz, Miranda; Rodriguez, Guardado; Ruibal, Fekir, Canales; Iglesias

Levante possible starting lineup:

Fernandez; Miramon, Rober, Vezo, Clerc; De Frutos, Vukcevic, Bardhi, Rochina; Morales, Marti

We say: Real Betis 2-1 Levante

Both sides will fancy their chances of picking up a positive result on Friday, but we just think that Betis will edge a close match. Levante have won four of the last five La Liga meetings between the two sides; Betis have shown a lot of improvement this season, though, and should have enough to edge out a win.

Top tip

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