Levante will travel to Andalusia this week for their mid-table La Liga clash with Cadiz at the Nuevo Estadio Ramon de Carranza.
Cadiz have hardly been extraordinary at home this season, having only won two games there so far, while Levante's travels have been even more fruitless, with Las Granotas having only picked up six points on the road.
Match preview
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Alvaro Cervera's men improved on their positive start to the season with an emphatic 3-1 win over Alaves last time out in the league, a result that was enough to convince the Alaves hierarchy to show boss Pablo Machin the exit not long after the 90 minutes had come to an end.
Veteran poacher Alvaro Negredo sealed the win for Andalusia's Yellow Submarine in the latter stages of the game, bringing his tally to four goals this season, emphasising his significance to Cervera's side.
The team's exploits against Alaves put an end to a winless streak that stretched all the way back to early December and left Cadiz ninth in the table, but their celebrations would not last long.
On Saturday, Cadiz crashed out of the Copa del Rey after their round-of-32 matchup against Segunda Division side Girona ended 2-0 to the Catalans.
Following his side's elimination from the cup, Cervera said that he "expected more from the players" regardless of squad rotation.
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In comparison, Levante only narrowly found their way past second-tier side Fuenlabrada in the cup, with the tie going all the way to penalties before Paco Lopez's side eventually emerged victorious.
Regardless of the manner of this recent win, Las Granotas have now won three matches on the bounce and are starting to put together an impressive run of form.
Las Granotas currently sit 11th in the table and are beginning to look up the division as opposed to down it, with the drop zone receding ever further away behind them.
While Levante and Cadiz are yet to play a game against one another in La Liga, Lopez can at least say that his side are undefeated in their last four away games against the Yellow Submarine in all competitions.
If Levante are to come away with all three points at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza, Lopez may well pin his hopes on star-man Jose Luis Morales, who has already netted seven goals for his side this season.
Cadiz La Liga form: LLLDDW
Cadiz form (all competitions): LDDWWW
Levante La Liga form: LWDWLW
Levante form (all competitions): DWLWWW
Team News
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Lopez made a number of changes to his side during their win in the cup on the weekend but will be back to full strength in this tie.
However, Lopez will be without Enis Bardhi, who is out with a hernia, and Rober Pier, who is unavailable due to COVID-19.
Cervera will be without trusted midfielder Fali, who is serving a one-game suspension following a yellow card he picked up last time out.
Cadiz will also be without Augusto Fernandez, Jose Mari, Marcos Mauro and Luismi Quezada.
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Alcala, Cala, Espino; Alex, Jonsson, Garrido, Perea; Lozano, Negredo
Levante possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Jorge Miramon, Duarte, Postigo, Clerc; de Frutos, Radoja, Malsa, Morales; Alcon, Roger
We say: Cadiz 2-1 Levante
Levante's good run of form in recent weeks should not take attention away from the fact that Las Granotas have been poor on their travels this season. We think Cadiz will take the three points here.
Top betting tip
Francis Buchanan
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 Levante win with a probability of 46.91%. A draw had a probability of 27.2% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 25.85%.
The most likely scoreline for a Levante win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.34%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.26%) and 1-2 (8.83%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.73%), while for a Cadiz win it was 1-0 (9.18%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood.
