Valencia will be bidding to return to winning ways in La Liga when they travel to Mendizorrotza Stadium on Saturday evening to take on Alaves.
The visitors will enter the contest off the back of a 2-1 home loss to Osasuna, while Alaves were beaten 1-0 by Getafe in their last match in Spain's top flight.
Match preview
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Alaves secured a return to La Liga through last season's Segunda Division playoffs, so their main focus for this term is to consolidate back in the top flight.
The Blue and Whites suffered a 1-0 defeat at Cadiz in their opening match of the campaign before winning a seven-goal thriller against Sevilla in front of their own supporters.
Alaves were unable to build on the result, though, as they lost 1-0 at Getafe on Monday evening, with the result leaving them in 14th position in the table on three points.
Luis Garcia's side will be pleased to be back on home soil this weekend, and their form in front of their own supporters is likely to be crucial when it comes to their chances of staying in the division.
Alaves have brought 10 new players to the club this summer, while there have also been a host of departures, so there is a fresh look to the squad this season.
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Valencia, meanwhile, opened their 2023-24 La Liga campaign with back-to-back wins over Sevilla and Las Palmas, but they suffered a 2-1 home loss to Osasuna last time out.
It did appear that the points would be shared at Mestalla, with Hugo Duro coming up with an 80th-minute leveller after Aimar Oroz had sent the visitors ahead, but Nacho Vidal won it for Osasuna in the fifth minute of added time at the end of the 90 minutes.
Los Che have still made an encouraging start to the season, though, sitting up in sixth position on six points, and they are attempting to put a very difficult 2022-23 campaign behind them.
Indeed, Ruben Baraja's side finished 16th in Spain's top flight last season, which proved to be their lowest spot since being relegated from La Liga at the end of the 1985-86 campaign.
Valencia have only actually won one of their last five league matches against Alaves, and they suffered a 2-1 defeat when the two teams locked horns in the corresponding game during the 2021-22 campaign.
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Team News
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Alaves remain without the services of on-loan Atletico Madrid forward Giuliano Simeone, who suffered a serious ankle injury during the team's preparations for the 2023-24 campaign.
The Basque outfit are otherwise in good shape, and head coach Garcia is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack for the clash with Valencia.
Indeed, Luis Rioja and Xeber Alkain are both set to keep hold of their starting roles in the wide areas, with Kike Garcia again expected to feature down the middle for the Basque side.
Valencia, meanwhile, will be missing two players for this weekend's contest, with Marcos Andre and Alberto Mari out with knee and thigh injuries respectively.
Andre Almeida was surprisingly left out of the starting side against Osasuna but should be introduced back into the XI for this contest, with Javi Guerra likely to drop out.
There could also be a change in a wide position, with Dimitri Foulquier potentially coming in to replace Fran Perez in order to provide some protection to Thierry Correia.
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Sivera; Gorosabel, Aqbar, Sedlar, Duarte; Guevara, Benavidez, Guridi; Alkain, Kike, Rioja
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Correia, Paulista, Ozkacar, Gaya; Foulquier, Pepelu, Diakhaby, Lopez; Duro, Almeida
We say: Alaves 1-1 Valencia
Alaves were impressive in their last home match against Sevilla, and we are expecting them to be a difficult side to beat at Mendizorrotza Stadium this season. Valencia are still short of firepower, so we can see a low-scoring draw taking place this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
