Granada will be looking to continue their impressive start to their 2020-21 La Liga campaign when they welcome struggling Levante to Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on Sunday.
The hosts are currently third in the table with 13 points from their opening six matches, while Levante have only picked up four points from six games to sit in 19th position.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having made an impressive start to the season, Granada sit just one point off the top of the table, winning four and drawing one of their six matches to collect 13 points, which is an identical record to Real Madrid.
El Grana finished seventh in La Liga last term on their return to this level following a two-year absence, and they managed to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League.
Diego Martinez's side have picked up four points from their two European matches this season, following a 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven with a goalless draw against PAOK on Thursday night.
Granada have also won their last two in the league, beating Sevilla 1-0 on October 17 before recording an impressive 1-0 victory away to Getafe last weekend.
There is plenty for the club's supporters to be excited about at the moment, and they will be expecting their side to pick up another three points against a struggling Levante on Sunday evening.
© Reuters
Only Real Valladolid (3) have collected fewer points than Levante (4) in La Liga this season, with the latter winning one, drawing one and losing four of their opening six matches to sit in 19th position.
The Frogs picked up an impressive three points away to Osasuna at the end of September but have lost three of their last four matches since then, including defeats to Sevilla and Real Madrid.
Levante did manage to end their losing run with a point at home to Celta Vigo last weekend, though, and they actually beat Granada 2-1 in the corresponding match between the two sides in 2019-20.
The Valencia-based outfit have not operated outside of Spain's top flight since the 2016-17 campaign, but the early indications are that they could be in for a relegation battle this season.
Granada La Liga form: WWLDWW
Granada form (all competitions): WDWWWD
Levante La Liga form: LWLLLD
Team News
© Reuters
Granada's injury list is fairly substantial at the moment, with Dimitri Foulquier, Victor Diaz, Quini, Ramon Azeez and Neyder Lozano all on the sidelines through injury.
Experienced centre-forward Roberto Soldado is also absent for the home side, having recently been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Luis Suarez and Jorge Molina are both expected to be in the Granada XI this weekend, while Maxime Gonalons should keep his spot alongside Luis Milla and Yangel Herrera in the middle of the park.
As for Levante, Nikola Vukcevic is still on the sidelines with a muscular injury, while Jose Luis Morales is also expected to miss out on a spot in the XI due to a sprained ankle.
Morales's likely absence is a huge blow for the visitors, with the 33-year-old already finding the back of the net on three occasions in the league this term.
Enis Bardhi replaced Morales in the second half of the draw with Celta last weekend, and the 25-year-old should now earn a starting role, with Roger Marti leading the line.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Silva; Puertas, Sanchez, Vallejo, Neva; Machis, Milla, Gonalons, Herrera, Suarez; Molina
Levante possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Miramon, Postigo, Duarte, Tono; Rochina, Malsa, Melero, Campana, Bardhi; Marti
We say: Granada 2-0 Levante
Levante have had longer to prepare for this match, but the expected absence of key attacker Morales will certainly hurt the visitors. Granada have made an extremely positive start to the season, and we expect Martinez's side to put another three points on the board this weekend.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Draw:data
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Granada win with a probability of 49.23%. A draw had a probability of 26.8% and a win for Levante had a probability of 23.97%.
The most likely scoreline for a Granada win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.83%) and 2-1 (8.99%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.51%), while for a Levante win it was 0-1 (8.71%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.5% likelihood.
