Preview: Real Betis vs. Valencia - prediction, team news, lineups

Both Real Betis and Valencia will be bidding to return to winning ways on Sunday afternoon when they lock horns for a La Liga contest at Estadio Benito Villamarin.

The home side, who sit 10th in the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Granada, while eight-placed Valencia suffered a 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad last time out.

Match preview

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Real Betis finished sixth in La Liga last season, which directly qualified them for the group stage of the Europa League, but they made a disappointing start to their campaign, suffering a 1-0 loss to Rangers last week.

Manuel Pellegrini's side are actually on a four-game winless run in all competitions, three of which have been in the league, losing 5-0 at Barcelona before drawing with Cadiz and Granada.

The Green and Whites have won two, drawn three and lost two of their seven league games this season to collect nine points, which has left them in 10th position in the table, and it would be fair to say that the Seville outfit are yet to really kickstart their campaign.

Goals have been a problem this term, only managing seven in their seven matches, with three of those coming from Willian Jose, but fellow senior striker Borja Iglesias is yet to get off the mark.

Real Betis are winless in their last three league games against Valencia, with the points being shared in a 1-1 draw in the corresponding match last season.

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Valencia, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 home loss to Real Sociedad, with Carlos Fernandez's 32nd-minute effort proving to be the difference between the two sides.

Los Che will still be relatively pleased with their start to the season, though, picking up 10 points from seven matches courtesy of a record of three wins, one draw and three defeats.

Valencia finished 16th in Spain's top flight last term, which proved to be their worst position since being relegated from La Liga at the end of the 1985-86 campaign.

The team's best result of the season came at home to Atletico in the middle of September, recording a 3-0 victory over Diego Simeone's side, but they have drawn with Almeria and lost to Real Sociedad since then, which is a demonstration of their inconsistency.

Ruben Baraja's team have been relatively solid at the back this term, only conceding seven times, but they have scored just nine down the other end, with Hugo Duro and Javi Guerra their joint-leading goalscorers on three.

Team News

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Real Betis will be without the services of five first-team players on Sunday through injury, with Marc Bartra, Willian Jose, Luiz Henrique, Youssouf Sabaly and Nabil Fekir on the sidelines.

Head coach Pellegrini is expected to make changes to the side that started the draw with Granada on Thursday, with Rodri and William Carvalho in line for recalls.

Ayoze Perez started through the middle against Granada due to the absence of Willian Jose, but it would not be a surprise to see Iglesias selected as the centre-forward for this weekend's contest.

Valencia, meanwhile, have four players on the sidelines through injury, with Jesus Vazquez, Dimitri Foulquier, Sergi Canos and Alberto Mari unavailable for selection.

Los Che will also be missing Selim Amallah, who was handed a red card in the loss to Real Sociedad, which could open the door for Andre Almeida to return to the side.

Guerra's performances this season have brought a host of attention, with Manchester United one of a number of clubs said to be closely monitoring the 20-year-old, who should again feature in central midfield.

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Bravo; Ruibal, Pezzella, Riad, Abner; Rodriguez, Carvalho; Diao, Isco, Rodri; Iglesias

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Mamardashvili; Correia, Diakhaby, Ozkacar, Gaya; Pepelu, Guerra; Perez, Almeida, Lopez; Duro

We say: Real Betis 1-0 Valencia

This is a tough match to call, as it is difficult to know exactly what to expect from Valencia on a game-to-game basis. Real Betis have not exactly been terrific this term, and they are hardly full of goals, but we are backing the Seville outfit to shade a close contest on Sunday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.