Girona vs Valencia 10/03/19

10 March 2019

After beating Krasnodar 2-1 in the Europa League, Valencia travel to the Estadio Municipal de Montilivi to take on an improving Girona side.

Unbeaten in their last three La Liga clashes (W2, D1), the hosts have created a comfortable eight-point gap on the relegation zone and enter this encounter relieved. However, the Blanquivermells are desperate to snap a frustrating seven-game LL home winless streak (D5, L2), and also achieve their elusive first home triumph over Valencia in the Spanish top tier. The main cause of Girona’s poor results at home in the recent period is the fact they’ve been dealing with immense problems in the final third that have seen them score one goal or less in all seven of their previous LL home outings. Eusebio Sacristan’s men have bagged just 11 goals in Catalonia this term, on a miserly average of 0.85 goals scored per match. Meanwhile, they’ve conceded 18 goals in 13 LL home fixtures, which is why they are currently dealing with a negative -7 goal difference at home.

On the other hand, the visitors come into this meeting after racking up an eight-game LL unbeaten run (W3, D5) as they currently sit six points adrift of fourth-placed Getafe. The main problem Marcelino Garcia Toral has to handle is that his players returned to playing out draws, especially on the road. The Bats have been held to three stalemates in their last five LL away fixtures, picking up only one victory in the process. What’s more, Valencia have secured just two triumphs on their previous 11 road trips across all competitions, suffering five defeats along the way. Marcelino also has to be worried about the fact his team has failed to keep a clean sheet in 10 of their last 11 competitive road games, allowing over 1.5 goals per match on five occasions in that period.