Valencia vs Las Palmas prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-08-17 19:30.
Valencia’s first win against Sevilla in ten competitive outings (D3, L6) saw them commence a new La Liga (LL) season with an opening-round victory for the fourth consecutive season, although it is not necessarily a sign of things to come, having finished no better than ninth in their three previous campaigns. Nonetheless, they’re now well positioned to make an excellent start to this one, with their first home game against newly-promoted Las Palmas.
If anyone at the club believes in omens, they ought to be reminded that the last three occasions that Valencia started a LL season with two wins from two (2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12), they directly qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage with third-place finishes! However, the endgame is no doubt one of the last things on the mind of manager Rubén Baraja who, after the win against Sevilla, reasserted his desire for reinforcements “up top and on the wings” during this transfer window.
Las Palmas also know that round one doesn’t define a season, having now failed to win their opening league game on five consecutive occasions following a 1-1 draw at home to Mallorca, who last season finished ninth, seven places ahead of Valencia. Las Palmas head coach GarcĂa Pimienta also acknowledged the importance of additional signings to secure their survival, publicly hoping for tall defenders and a midfielder “as soon as possible”.
Illustrated by an expected goals count of just 0.92 despite 69% of possession according to Flashscore’s match stats, Pimienta also lamented that his side “generated attacking plays but not dangerous ones” against Mallorca. Perhaps then, after heading home with all three points from just two of their ten away games as pre-match outsiders in La Liga 2 last season (D5, L3), snatching a draw seems the most realistic ambition Las Palmas can have.
Key battle: Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby has now scored four times for his club in the last 12 months, with three of those goals coming in 2-1 victories (L1). He couldn’t find the net at the weekend, but Las Palmas striker Marc Cardona would love to replicate his start to last season, when he scored after half-time in their second, third and fourth league matches!
Hot streak: The pre-match favourite has not won any of Valencia’s last eight LL games (D3, L5).