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

Valencia will be looking to bounce back from last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Celta Vigo when they continue their 2020-21 La Liga campaign at home to Huesca this weekend.

Los Che have picked up three points from their first two league games of the season to occupy fifth spot in the table, while Huesca have picked up a point from their opening two fixtures.

Match preview

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Valencia made an impressive start to their new La Liga season, beating Levante 4-2 on the opening weekend, but Javi Gracia 's side could not build on the victory and lost away to Celta last time out.

Iago Aspas scored twice for the hosts in Vigo, and Los Che could not find a response to the forward's second goal as they suffered their first defeat of the campaign at an early stage.

After back-to-back fourth-place finishes, Valencia ended last season in ninth, and it could be a difficult campaign for the club as a number of key players have been moved on for financial reasons.

Rodrigo Moreno, Ferran Torres, Francis Coquelin and Dani Parejo are amongst those to have departed, while the club have not managed to make any signings at this stage of the window.

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Huesca, meanwhile, picked up an impressive point at Villarreal on the opening weekend of the season but suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Cadiz last time out.

Michel 's side, who are currently 12th in the division, now face two difficult games before the end of the month as their next fixture after this one is at home to Atletico Madrid.

Huesca earned promotion back to La Liga for this season courtesy of winning last season's Segunda Division, while they have previously operated at this level, taking part in the 2018-19 campaign, where they finished 19th.

Azulgranas face a tough assignment when it comes to staying in the division, but they have managed to bring in some new players this summer, with Borja Garcia, Dimitrios Siovas and Andres Fernandez among those to arrive.

Valencia La Liga form: WL

Huesca La Liga form: DL

Team News

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Valencia have injury problems in central defence with Eliaquim Mangala and Gabriel Paulista both on the sidelines through injury, meaning that Hugo Guillamon could line up at the back.

Jasper Cillessen is available following injury, but Jaume Domenech should continue between the sticks, while Uros Racic could get the nod over Vicente Esquerdo alongside Geoffrey Kondogbia in the middle of the park.

Former Arsenal youngster Yunus Musah is also expected to keep his spot as Denis Cheryshev and Carlos Soler are both likely to again be absent through injury.

As for Huesca, Mikel Rico is expected to miss out due to a knock, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape when it comes to availability for this weekend's contest.

Former Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki should again lead the line for the home team, while Rafa Mir and David Ferreiro are likely to keep their spots in the wide areas.

There could be a change in the number 10 position, though, with Garcia potentially taking the place of Juan Carlos, which was a substitution that took place in the early stages of the second half against Cadiz.

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Domenech; Wass, Guillamon, Diakhaby, Gaya; Racic, Kondogbia; Guedes, Kang-In, Musah; Gomez

Huesca possible starting lineup:

Fernandez; Maffeo, Pulido, Siovas, Galan; Mosquera, Gomez; Mir, Garcia, Ferreiro; Okazaki

We say: Valencia 2-1 Huesca

Valencia need to bounce back from last weekend's defeat to Celta, and we fancy the hosts to triumph. Huesca picked up an excellent point at Villarreal earlier this month, but we are predicting a narrow victory for Los Che here.

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