Sevilla head into Wednesday's La Liga fixture at Valencia with the opportunity to move within two points of leaders Real Madrid.
At a time when the visitors are the form team in Spain's top flight, Valencia have suffered two successive defeats, leaving them in 10th position.
Match preview
© Reuters
Amid the controversy and disappointment of the defeat to Real Betis in the Copa del Rey, Julen Lopetegui will be grateful of another game to try to get back on track.
Sevilla had gone seven matches without defeat until that contest, but the Spanish boss may be content with being able to focus his attention on league matters.
Los Nervionenses have done a sterling job in keeping pace with leaders Real Madrid, and a 14th win in 21 games would heap the pressure on the pacesetters.
If Sevilla are to remain in the hunt, they will realistically have to improve their return in the final third, with just seven league goals coming in their most recent six league games.
While maintaining by far and away the best defensive record in the division has kept them in contention, Rafa Mir remains as the top goalscorer with just six goals.
© Reuters
From Valencia's perspective, they have their sights set on trying to respond to two successive defeats in La Liga having gone down to Espanyol and Real.
Jose Bordalas's team are still within five points of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, but Los Che can ill-afford another setback at this stage of the season.
To their credit, they have kept things ticking over in the Copa del Rey, edging out lower-league FC Cartagena and Atletico Baleares by 2-1 and 1-0 scorelines respectively.
A first-minute Marcos Andre goal proved to be the difference in the latter of those fixtures, extending Valencia's scoring streak to 10 matches in all competitions
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Valencia have a number of uncertainties ahead of this game with the likes of Thierry Correia, Denis Cheryshev, Maxi Gomez, Daniel Wass and Helder Costa having recently tested positive for coronavirus.
While some of those players will likely return, it leaves Bordalas with much to ponder, but Uros Racic and Yunus Musah are both options if required.
Jules Kounde is among a number of Sevilla players who are pushing for a recall after only featuring on the substitutes' bench against Betis.
Marcos Acuna will also feature at left-back, but Youssef En-Nesyri and Munir El-Haddadi are unavailable due to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Jesus Corona is in contention for his first start after his recent arrival from Porto.
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Wass, Diakhaby, Alderete, Gaya; Costa, Guillamon, Racic, Duro; Guedes, Gomez
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Montiel, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan; Gomez, Mir, Ocampos
We say: Valencia 1-2 Sevilla
Based on current form, Sevilla are justifiably the favourites for this contest, but Valencia will feel that they can raise their game in front of their own supporters. When taking all things into consideration, a hard-fought win for the visitors is the most likely outcome.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Sevilla win with a probability of 47.88%. A win for Valencia had a probability of 26.39% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.27%) and 0-2 (8.78%). The likeliest Valencia win was 1-0 (8.07%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.22%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood.
