On Monday night, newly promoted Levante host Villarreal in La Liga at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, as the home side look to mark their return to the Spanish top-flight with a victory.
Levante spent just one season in the Segunda, winning the second tier title relatively comfortably. The Valencia-based team look far better equipped to survive the drop than their fellow La Liga newcomers.
However, they face a difficult opening game against the Yellow Submarine, who has beaten them in eight of the last nine meetings in all competitions.
The home side do not have a great recent record in La Liga, winning just one of their last five La Liga games in their relegation season. Juan Muniz’s side will be hoping to improve that record in the Spanish top-flight this season, though.
Despite their poor overall record in their last stint in La Liga, Levante are unbeaten in five home games in the Spanish top-flight, recording three wins and two draws. In fact, only Spain’s big two Real Madrid and Barcelona have won at Levante in La Liga in the last ten games.
Villarreal finished fifth in La Liga last season and have become one of the toughest teams in the Spanish top-flight to defeat. Fran Escriba’s side finished last season with four victories from their last six games in the Spanish top-flight.
The visitors have a very mixed away record in La Liga, winning three and losing three of their last six away games on their travels in the Spanish top-flight. The Yellow Submarine could give debuts to new forward signings Carlos Bacca and Enes Unal, who arrived from AC Milan and Manchester City respectively earlier this summer.
Forebet predicts that Levante will suffer defeat on their return to the Spanish top-flight after their one-year stint in the Segunda.