Valencia vs Almeria prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-01-22 20:00.
Another below par season seems to be playing out for La Liga (LL) stalwarts Valencia, with fans ruing the day that businessman Peter Lim took over the club back in 2014, with the subsequent years seeing underinvestment in the team and a farcical situation with the building of a new stadium. Just one win in their last eight games (D3, L4) places Valencia on the periphery of the relegation dogfight and in danger of their first relegation since 1985/86. Their recent poor run has culminated in back-to-back league losses, although the hope is their convincing 4-0 win over second-tier side Gijon in midweek Copa del Rey action will help lift the spirits, for a while at least.
‘Los Che’ will need all the spirit-lifting they can get here, as they head into this fixture having won only once in their last ten matches played on a Monday (D6, L3). Gennaro Gattuso’s men will walk out to the Mestalla faithful needing to rediscover their early season form that saw them lose only once in their first five home league matches (W3, D1), going on to lose three of the four games played since (W1).
The fight to stave off relegation is on for promoted travellers Almería too, who trail their hosts by a solitary point in the table, with survival certainly always their only goal for the season. A three-game winless run (D2, L1) has put the pressure on manager Rubi, who’ll know his side’s solitary clean sheet this LL campaign needs immediate attention.
The odds of that improving here seem next to none though, with Almería possessing the worst away record this campaign (D2, L6), driven by the lowest offensive output on the road with just four goals scored. Add to that the fact Almería have won only one of their last ten encounters with Valencia (D2, L7), and a horrible start to the week seems on the cards for the travelling fans.
Players to watch: Valencia’s veteran forward Edinson Cavani has scored his club’s opener in all of his last six goalscoring outings, while a man 14 years his junior in Almería’s El Bilal Touré has scored five of his last seven club goals before half-time.
Hot stat: Almería have seen a 0-0 half-time score in only two of their last 14 matches.