Levante will be bidding to stretch their unbeaten run of form in La Liga to three matches when they continue their survival mission at home to Elche on Friday night.
The hosts, who remain bottom of the division, will enter the match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo on Monday, while Elche recorded a 2-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano in their last match.
Match preview
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Levante remain rooted to the bottom of the La Liga table, picking up just 15 points from their 25 matches this season, which has left them nine points from the safety of 17th position with 13 games left.
However, the club have given themselves a glimmer of hope with two impressive results on their travels, recording a 1-0 victory over the champions Atletico Madrid on February 16 before claiming a point in a 1-1 draw with Celta on Monday evening, with Roger Marti hitting a late equaliser in Vigo.
Alessio Lisci's side would move to within two points of 18th-placed Cadiz if they manage to triumph in this contest, which would certainly boost confidence ahead of three huge league games against Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol and Osasuna in March.
Levante have finished 15th, 15th, 12th and 14th in Spain's top flight since securing a return to this level of football, and it would be some story if they managed to escape the relegation zone considering their problems during the 2021-22 campaign.
The Frogs are winless in their last six La Liga matches against Elche, but three of the last four top-flight meetings between the two sides have finished level, including a 1-1 draw earlier this season.
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Elche, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano on February 18, with Guido Carrillo and Ezequiel Ponce on the scoresheet for the hosts, who had to come from behind to triumph.
Francisco's side have actually only lost one of their last seven league matches, recording four wins in the process, which has moved them up into 13th position in the table.
Elche are currently nine points clear of 18th-placed Cadiz and just three points behind ninth-placed Celta Vigo, so they will be looking up the division rather than down at this stage of the season.
Los Franjiverdes have been excellent at home in recent weeks, winning four of their last five matches, remaining unbeaten in the process, but they have struggled on their travels during the 2021-22 campaign, losing eight of their 13 games, which will be a concern heading into this contest.
Elche only narrowly avoided relegation back to the Segunda Division last term, finishing 17th in the table, but they have no relegation fears at this stage, and the pressure will be firmly on the hosts in this match.
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Team News
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Levante will again be missing Shkodran Mustafi and Nemanja Radoja on Friday through injury, while Ruben Vezo, Sergio Postigo and Jose Campana remain fitness doubts.
Roger Marti came off the bench to score the leveller against Celta last time out, and it would not be a surprise to see the striker earn a starting role here, potentially at the expense of Dani Gomez.
Jose Luis Morales and Enis Bardhi should retain their spots in the XI, though, so Jorge de Frutos might have to accept a spot among the substitutes once again.
As for Elche, Helibelton Palacios remains unavailable through injury, while Javier Pastore is a doubt for the visitors due to a knock.
Lucas Boye should return from a muscular problem to make the bench, though, and Gerard Gumbau and Gonzalo Verdu will also be available following suspensions.
Carrillo was on the scoresheet against Rayo Vallecano last time out and should retain his spot in the final third of the field, while Tete Morente and Fidel are likely to continue in the wide areas.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Pier, Duarte, Caceres; Miramon, Pepelu, Melero, Son; Bardhi, Marti, Morales
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Barragan, Verdu, Bigas, Mojica; Morente, Mascarell, Gumbau, Fidel; Milla, Carrillo
We say: Levante 1-1 Elche
Levante have impressed in their last two matches but will now be coming up against an Elche side in good form. Both teams will believe that they can cause damage in the final third of the field, but we believe that a tight match will ultimately end with the points being shared.
Top tip
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 Levante win with a probability of 51.91%. A draw had a probability of 25.2% and a win for Elche had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Levante win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.85%) and 2-1 (9.46%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.94%), while for a Elche win it was 0-1 (7.54%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Levante would win this match.
