Valencia vs Almeria prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-02-02 13:00.
Once among the heavyweights of European football, Valencia will hope their lack of activity in the transfer market does not dent their hopes of ending an absence from UEFA competitions since 2019/20. A quiet January window for Los Ches has left manager Rubén Baraja criticising owner Peter Lim for not splashing the cash as he fears his side could be left behind in the race for a top-six finish in La Liga.
They are currently four points adrift of the European places, a gap that had been closed dramatically by a sequence of four successive victories until a 2-0 loss to Atlético Madrid last weekend. Baraja should be confident of a return to winning ways at the Mestalla, where his men are on a run of six league games without defeat (W4, D2), the club’s joint-longest unbeaten streak on home soil since April 2021.
That’s not good news for upcoming opponents AlmerĂa, who have the worst away record in the division, having picked up just one of an available 33 points (W0, D1, L10) and conceded a league-high 28 goals on the road. Indeed, the visitors remain winless in La Liga this season, and as such look destined for a return to Segunda DivisiĂłn after two years in the top flight, primarily due to the fact they sit 11 points from safety at the foot of the table.
Manager Gaizka Garitano will be hoping that the January arrivals of Luka Romero and Aleksandar Radovanović from AC Milan and Kortrijk respectively can boost their survival chances, with the former making his debut in a 3-0 loss at home to Alavés last time out. Perhaps their revival can start against Valencia, against whom they are unbeaten in the last three H2Hs (W1, D2).
Key battle: Six of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili’s seven clean sheets for Valencia this term have come on home soil. Attempting to beat him may be AlmerĂa’s Sergio Arribas, who has scored nine of his last ten goals after half-time.
Hot stat: AlmerĂa’s away matches in 2023/24 are averaging a joint league-high 3.55 goals per game.