Deportivo Alaves vs Levante 12/02/19

12 February 2019

The two out-of-form sides are set to face-off against each other at the Estadio Mendizorrotza as Deportivo Alaves take on Levante.

Not long ago, the hosts have been residing inside the top-four, but a disastrous sequence of three consecutive league defeats has seen them tumbling down to the seventh place. In that period, the Babazorros have conceded eight goals, while failing to find the back of the net in each. If El Glorioso look to bounce back, Abelardo has to find the way to solve his team’s immense attacking crisis. Not only Alaves have averaged 1.1 goals scored per match at home this term, but they’ve struggled to hit the net twice in their last four LL home outings, bagging one goal apiece in the remaining two. But, Abelardo can still rely on a strong defense that has conceded just seven goals in ten LL home clashes, keeping three clean slates. What’s more, Alaves are one of two Spanish teams who are yet to allow 2+ goals per game at home this campaign.

Meanwhile, if they can take advantage of the hosts’ drop-off in form, the visitors can extend a four-point lead over 18th-placed Rayo Vallecano and make their relegation battle a lot easier. However, in order to do that, the Granotas have to overcome their own crisis that has seen them failing to wrap up all three points on their last six LL road trips (D3, L3). Frustratingly poor attacking displays away from home has resulted in Levante scoring just one goal in their previous four road games across all competitions. As things stand, Paco Lopez can’t count on his defense either, considering Levante failed to keep a clean sheet on nine successive competitive road trips, conceding over 1.5 goals per match five times in the process.

Provisional line-up – Deportivo Alaves:

Gk: Pacheco Defense: Ruben Duarte – Maripan – Laguardia – Vigaray Midfield: Manu Garcia – Wakaso – Tomas Pina – Burgui Attack: Jony – Caleri

Provisional line-up – Levante:

Gk: Aitor Fernandez Defense: Eric Cabaco – Ruben Vezo – Koke – Tono Midfield: Jason – Bardhi – Vukcevic – Jose Morales Attack: Roger Marti – Borja Mayoral