Levante vs Valencia 02/09/18

02 September 2018

A city derby, the one between Levante and Valencia that will take place at the Estadi Ciutat de València will see the visitors trying to reach their first away win over the nearest rivals in the last six years. Although the Frogs opened the new La Liga campaign with an outstanding 3-0 over Real Betis on the road, they have struggled to maintain the same rhythm against Celta Vigo at home, eventually losing that match by two goals to one. Judging on Levante’s results from the off-season, it seems that Paco López abandoned a defensive-minded football philosophy, as all of their seven games during the preparation period ended with three or more goals, with Granotas failing to keep a clean sheet in each one of those encounters. Meanwhile, the Oranges have played out a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on the opening matchday, after which they suffered a painful 2-0 loss to Espanyol on the road showing many signs of weakness in the backline, and Marcelino García Toral looks desperate to see his team’s reacting adequately this weekend.

Armando Sadiku will be the only missing player in the home squad, while the visitors should arrive without Ezequiel Garay and Francis Coquelin, as both of them are struggling with injuries.