La Liga's only two winless teams this season will lock horns at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia on Saturday evening, as Levante welcome Getafe for a key battle.
Levante have only picked up four points from their opening eight matches of the campaign to sit 18th in the table, while Getafe are bottom, having collected just a single point from their eight fixtures.
Match preview
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Levante are in their fifth straight term at this level of football and have finished 12th and 14th in their last two campaigns, but the early indications are that it could be a tough season for the club.
Indeed, the Frogs have drawn four and lost four of their opening eight matches of the season to collect four points, which has left them in 18th position in the table heading into the next set of fixtures.
Paco Lopez was sacked as head coach following the 1-0 defeat at Mallorca earlier this month, and Javier Pereira has now been placed in charge, with the 55-year-old returning to Spain after a spell in China.
Levante will still believe that their squad is more than good enough to move up the table in the coming weeks, but three straight defeats to Celta Vigo, Barcelona and Mallorca without scoring a goal is a concern.
The Valencia-based outfit have won their last two home league fixtures against Getafe, though, including an impressive 3-0 success in the corresponding match during the 2020-21 campaign.
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Getafe, meanwhile, lost their opening seven league matches of the season against Valencia, Sevilla, Barcelona, Elche, Rayo Vallecano, Atletico Madrid and Real Betis.
The Deep Blue Ones managed to claim their first point of the season at home to Real Sociedad before the international break, though, and the result will certainly have boosted confidence in the camp.
Like Levante, Getafe also changed their manager over the international break, with the disappointing start to the campaign, which has left the club bottom of the table with a single point, seeing Michel lose his job.
Quique Sanchez Flores has returned for a third spell in charge of the club, and the 56-year-old will be tasked with moving the capital outfit up the table in the coming weeks.
Getafe recorded a 2-1 victory over Levante when the two teams last locked horns in May, but the Blues have not beaten Levante on their travels in La Liga since January 2012.
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Team News
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Levante are sweating on the fitness of Jose Campana, Mickael Malsa, Enis Bardhi and Nikola Vukcevic ahead of Saturday's contest with their fellow strugglers.
Roberto Soldado has overcome a knock and is fit to start, although Roger Marti could be joined in the final third of the field by Dani Gomez, who is also available after a small injury.
Head coach Pereira is expected to select an attacking side this weekend, with Jorge de Frutos and Jose Luis Morales set to feature in the wide areas for the hoe side.
As for Getafe, Jakub Jankto and Sabit Abdulai will both miss the contest through injury, while Erick Cabaco and Vitolo will have to be assessed ahead of kickoff on Saturday.
The visitors could line up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Jaime Mata being joined in the final third of the field by Sandro Ramirez, while Florentino Luis and Nemanja Maksimovic should start in midfield.
Juan Iglesias is pushing to be involved in a wide area, but Enes Unal could again start on the bench, with Carles Alena keeping his spot for the capital side.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Miramon, Vezo, Mustafi, Clerc; De Frutos, Radoja, Melero, Morales; Marti, Gomez
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Dakonam, Cuenca, Olivera; Iglesias, Florentino, Maksimovic, Alena; Mata, Sandro
We say: Levante 1-1 Getafe
There is no getting away from the fact that both of these sides have struggled this season, and we are expecting a very cagey affair on Saturday. Both managers will be wary of losing their opening game at the helm, so we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw in Valencia.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Levante win with a probability of 37.74%. A win for Getafe had a probability of 33.56% and a draw had a probability of 28.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Levante win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.29%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.77%) and 2-0 (7.18%). The likeliest Getafe win was 0-1 (11.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.32%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 10.5% likelihood.
