Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Levante and Valencia face each other in the local derby at Estadi Ciutat de Valencia on Friday evening. Los Levantinos were producing fine displays in February, but they head into the Valencian derby following a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad. You should bear in mind that Levante failed to win the previous five home games in the Spanish top flight.
Los Che, on the other hand, came from behind to beat Villarreal in their last league fixture, with the team moving closer to the top half of the table. Since Valencia footballers regained a much-needed confidence at the weekend, we believe that punters can find value in betting on the visiting team. The good news for the visitors is that important defender Diakhaby returns from suspension. In the first half of the season Valencia recorded a 4-2 win over Levante at Estadio de Mestalla.
Highlighted Player (Coke):
Coke began his professional career at Rayo Vallecano, playing 180 games for the capital club between 2005 and 2011. The pacey full back joined Sevilla in June, 2011 and he made a right decision when he moved to the fellow La Liga side.
The Spanish footballer, who is capable of playing as both full back and a winger, won three UEFA Europa League trophies with los Sevillanos (2014, 2015, 2016) and he made it to the Spanish Cup final in the 2015/2016 season with the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan outfit. Sevilla, though, failed to make life difficult for Barcelona in the title game. After spending five years in Andalusia, Coke signed a three-year contract with Schalke on 31 July, 2016 for a fee of €5 million.
However, before the start of the 2016/2017 Bundesliga campaign he suffered a serious injury in a warm-up game against Bologna. Speaking of his international career, Coke has one cap for Spain U16, but he has yet to make his debut for the first team.
Highlighted Team (Valencia):
Founded on March 18, 1919, Valencia FC are a Spanish football club that compete in La Liga. Los Che play their home games at Estadio de Mestalla, the stadium which was opened back in May, 1923. The capacity of the venue is 50,000. Seeing that bats are quite common in Valencia, it is no surprise they are nicknamed the Bats.
Valencia made it to the Champions League final on two occasions (2000, 2001), but they were beaten in the title games by Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen respectively. The Spanish club, though, did well to win the UEFA Cup title in the 2003/2004 season, with the team beating Marseille in the final of the competition.
A number of top-class footballers were part of the club in the past, with the likes of Pablo Aimar, Ruben Baraja, David Albelda, Santiago Canizares, John Carew and Gaizka Mendieta all playing for the Estadio de Mestalla outfit. Valencia main colors are white and black, whilst they often where orange jerseys and shorts when playing on the travels.