Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero will host Saturday’s football game between Elche and Valladolid, the two bottom-table sides. Los Franjiverdes are stuck at the bottom with only 12 points on their account, but they did well to beat Mallorca on the road in their last league match. All Magallan, Roco, and Cheikh are back from suspensions, but the hosts will be without Milla, Donald Chetanuya, and Alamo in the round 25 clash.
La Pucela, meanwhile, aim to build on a 2-1 win over Espanyol, but given their poor away record (2-1-9), we predict that the relegation-threatened hosts are going to pick up all three points from the match. Alvaro Aguado is pushing for a start after scoring as a substitute against los Periquitos, while both Selim Amallah and Kike Perez are back from suspensions. The likes of Kenedy, Anuar, and Jordi Masip are sidelined with injuries.
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 (Valladolid):
Real Valladolid is a Spanish club based in Valladolid, the part of the autonomous community of Castille and Leon. Founded in 1928, Real Valladolid play their home matches at Jose Zorilla, the venue that has the capacity 26,512. La Pucela have yet to win the La Liga title, but it is important to note that they finished fourth at the end of the 1962/1963 season.
Real Valladolid made it to the Spanish Cup final on two occasions (1949/1950, 1988/1989). In 1984 they won Copa de la Liga (League Cup), which is considered the team’s biggest success. Speaking of their European records, Real Valladolid participated in the 1989/1990 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals.
La Pucela are well known for their purple and white shirts, but they are known for some top-class footballers as well. The likes of Diego Costa, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Borja Fernandez, Rene Higuita, Luis Garcia and Aritz Aduriz played for Real Valladolid in the past.