Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Following a boring goalless draw with Getafe, Valencia will look to keep their Europa League hopes alive when they face Elche on Saturday. Los Che have been impressive at the back of late, and we predict that they will rely on their rock-solid defence against Elche. Yunus Musah is back from suspension, while all Antonio Latorre, Jose Gaya, Thierry Correia, and Jasper Cillessen are sidelined with injuries.
Los Franjiverdes, on the other hand, aim to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Granada. Elche are eight points clear of the relegation zone, meaning that they would be happy with one point from the match. A close encounter is on the cards, and we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. Both John Donald and Helibelton Palacios are sidelined with injuries for the home side.
Highlighted Player (Enzo Roco):
Enzo Roco is one of the young and exciting defenders coming out of Chile in the recent times. The 23-year-old started in the youth teams at Universidad Catolica and moved up the ranks. He was promoted to their first team in 2011 and in three years with them played more than 90 matches.
He established himself in the first team and was an omnipresent figure at the back for the team that won Primera Division and Copa Chile titles. Roco moved to the Spanish club Elche on loan in 2014 and by the next year he was at their fellow Spanish club RCD Espanyol.
Roco’s international appearance started with the under-17 squad in 2009 while his senior international debut was in 2012. He was named in the 30-man list by Jorge Sampaoli for the 2014 FIFA World Cup but was cut from the final list.
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.