Valencia vs Sevilla 08/12/18

08 December 2018

After both teams secured their places in the round of 16 of Copa del Rey during midweek, Valencia and Sevilla will face-off at the Estadio de Mestalla in La Liga this Saturday.

Valencia will look to post their third consecutive win over big rivals following a pair of victories last season in which they didn’t concede a goal. However, the Bats have been struggling for form this season, having already played out eight draws in their opening 14 La Liga games. A 2-0 loss to Real Madrid last weekend has brought Valencia’s 2-game winning run to an end, and it was only the third time they conceded more than one goal per game this year. Although Marcelino Garcia Toral’s players conceded just 11 goals in the league so far at a miserly average of 0.79 goals allowed per match, they have been dealing with enormous problems in the final third. Having failed to hit the back of the net six times since the start of the season, the Oranges have barely managed 11 goals prior to this round, which is the joint-worst goalscoring record in the Spanish top tier.

On the other hand, the visitors are unbeaten in their last five La Liga clashes, securing three wins while being held to two draws in the run. The Andalusians have, however, failed to wrap up all three points on their previous three road trips, having lost 4-2 to Barcelona before playing out two consecutive draws to Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alaves. Unlike Valencia, Los Hispalenses have emerged as one of the best attacking teams in La Liga, with only Barcelona (37) scored more goals than Sevilla (26) this season. Pablo Machin’s main problem ahead of his side’s trip to Mestalla could be that his men have failed to keep a clean sheet six times in seven road matches, conceding ten goals in the process.

Provisional line-up – Valencia:

Gk: Neto Defense: Gabriel Paulista – Garay – Wass – Gaya Midfield: Coquelin – Parejo – Soler – Guedes Attack: Santi Mina – Gameiro

Provisional line-up – Sevilla:

Gk: Vaclik Defense: Kjaer – Sergi Gomez – Escudero – Mercado Midfield: Carrico – Roque Mesa – Banega – Franco Vasquez Attack: Ben Yedder – Andre Silva