Valencia vs Rayo Vallecano

Estadio de Mestalla is the venue as Valencia and Rayo Vallecano lock horns in a top-half La Liga encounter.

Stuck in mid-table after an indifferent start to the season (W4, D6, L4), Valencia go into this round on the back of two shutouts from three La Liga fixtures (W1, D2), reinforcing their top-six credentials. Though they’ve lost just one of their seven top-flight home matches this season (W3, D3, L1), three of their last four such contests have ended as a draw, all of which saw Valencia come from behind to avoid defeat. Another stalemate is well on the cards, given that three of Valencia’s last four league meetings with Rayo Vallecano have ended level (W1, L1). Regardless of the outcome, Jose Bordalas’ men are likely to find the net here, as they’ve scored in each of their last 18 La Liga outings at Mestalla, averaging 1.88 goals per game in that run.

Meanwhile, not even the most die-hard Rayo Vallecano fans could’ve hoped to see their side entering Matchday 15 in seventh, only three points adrift of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid. Though they’ve won 50% of their La Liga matches this season (W7, D2, L5), the visitors have struggled for consistency of late. None of Vallecano’s last eight top-flight games have produced the same outcome twice on the trot (W4, D1, L3). Still, their La Liga matches have been highly competitive, with eight of the last nine featuring a full-time margin of under 1.5 goals. Rayo Vallecano could make history here and beat Valencia in back-to-back top-flight matches for the first time, having registered a 2-0 victory in their most recent La Liga H2H back in April 2019.