Valencia will attempt to claim their third league welcome relegation rivals Alaves to Mestalla for Sunday's crucial La Liga encounter.
The hosts are languishing at the foot of the table with just 12 points to their name, leaving them five points adrift of their Basque opponents, who sit just outside the drop zone in 17th position.
Match preview
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Valencia's La Liga campaign may only be 16 games old, but they are already facing the real possibility of suffering their first relegation since the 1985-86 season.
Los Che are sitting bottom of the standings after taking just one point from four league matches since beating Real Betis 4-2 on November 23 to claim their second La Liga win of the season.
They followed that win with three consecutive defeats, including a narrow 1-0 loss in last Friday's away meeting with fellow bottom-three side Real Valladolid.
They then had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Wednesday's away clash against relegation rivals Espanyol, with Diego Lopez scoring in the opening stages of the second half to cancel out Javi Puado's 44th-minute opener, ensuring Valencia avoided a fourth straight defeat despite extending their winless away run to 12 league matches.
Ruben Baraja will be aware that may have to win Sunday's relegation six-pointer against Alaves if he is to avoid the sack, especially as reports continue to link former Valencia boss Quique Sanchez Flores with a return to the Mestalla dugout.
Unfortunately for Baraja, his hopes of claiming all three points may be tempered by the fact Valencia have lost each of their last three league games against Alaves since they recorded a commanding 3-0 home victory in August 2021.
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Alaves have already experienced a change of manager after the board took the difficult, and somewhat unpopular decision, to relieve Luis Garcia Plaza of his managerial duties earlier this month, bringing an end to a tenure which brought promotion and a 10th-place finish in La Liga.
Eduardo Coudet was quickly named as Garcia Plaza's successor, returning to Spain for the first time since leaving Celta Vigo in November 2022.
The 50-year-old, who coached Atletico Mineiro and Internacional during his time away from Europe, began his Alaves tenure with a disappointing result in the Copa del Rey, seeing his side fall short in a penalty shootout against fourth-tier Deportivo Minera.
While he is yet to claim his first win, Coudet has avoided defeat in his first two league games in the Alaves dugout, overseeing a 2-2 draw against Osasuna and a 1-1 scoreline in last Sunday's tricky home game against Athletic Bilbao.
Sevilla loanee Joan Jordan pounced on a mistake from Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon to net his first goal for El Glorioso, ensuring his side collected a point after Unai Gomez had opened the scoring at Mendizorroza.
With just a point separating them from the bottom three, Alaves will now head on their travels for their final outing of 2024, sensing a clash against struggling Valencia may present a real opportunity to end their seven-game winless away run in La Liga.
Team News
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The hosts remain without the services of Thierry Rendall, Jose Gaya, Mouctar Diakhaby and Rafa Mir due to injury.
Giorgi Mamardashvili is still sidelined with a muscle injury, meaning Stole Dimitrievski will start a third consecutive game in the Valencia goal.
Defender Cesar Tarrega is a doubt for Sunday's contest after being forced off with a hamstring issue in Wednesday's draw with Espanyol.
Yarek Gasiorowski will come into the backline if Tarrega fails to prove his fitness, while Javi Guerra and Hugo Duro could also be presented with starting berths.
As for the visitors, they should have no injury absentees, with Carlos Protesoni set to return to the squad after sitting out the draw with Athletic.
However, Coudet will be unable to call upon defender Nahuel Tenaglia, who will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Tenaglia's absence could offer Hugo Novoa the chance to feature in defence alongside Abdel Abqar, Santiago Mourino and Moussa Diarra.
Kike Garcia is set to lead the line for the Basque side, with the striker looking to score in a third consecutive away game after scoring braces against Deportivo Minera and Osasuna in the Copa del Rey and La Liga respectively.
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Foulquier, Gasiorowski, Mosquera, Vazquez; Guerra, Pepelu; Lopez, Almeida, Rioja; Duro
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Sivera; Novoa, Abqar, Mourino, Diarra; Jordan, Blancos; Vicente, Guridi, Martin; Garcia
We say: Valencia 1-1 Alaves
Alaves have struggled to pick up points on the road this season, having lost six of their previous seven away league matches.
Although that may make for concerning reading, Coudet managed to end a run of six consecutive away La Liga defeats with an in his first game in charge, and we think they will pick up another point against a Valencia side that are low on confidence following a number of poor results.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
