The second legs of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 ties will be played this week and in the early group of fixtures we have an interesting meeting between Krasnodar and Valencia.
Krasnodar come into this match 2-1 down from the first leg in Spain but have an away goal and that could prove very useful. Valencia have the lead and know if they can avoid losing the match, they will progress to the quarter-final.
FK Krasnodar currently sit second in the Russian Premier League, 5 points off the leaders. However, their recent form has dipped a little and they have failed to win any of their last five games in all competitions.
There have been three draws and two defeats, with the draws coming in the Europa League at Bayer Leverkusen and in the Russian league. Trends show Krasnodar have been difficult to beat at home in the Europa League and they have remained undefeated in their last six at Stadion FK Krasnodar, winning five of them.
They have scored 2 or more goals in six of their last seven home Europa League games but have managed to keep just one clean sheet. In the match in which the kept the clean sheet, Krasnodar failed to score themselves.
Valencia still have hopes of finishing in the top four of La Liga this season and qualifying for the Champions League. However, winning the Europa League could be the only way they can do it if they cannot improve on their current position of 7th place.
Nonetheless, Valencia CF have been in good form recently and are undefeated in their last thirteen games in all competitions. They have won each of their last four but three of those matches have been at home, including the first leg of this tie.
Since moving into the Europa League following their third place finish in their Champions League group, trends show Valencia have won all three of their games. One of those matches was a tough away trip to Celtic and Valencia won the match 2-0, which is a good sign ahead of this match.
However, Valencia have won only two of their last five away matches in the Europa League but have won two of the last three.
Looking ahead to the team news and Krasnodar will be without Aleksandr Martynovich and Charles Kaboré due to suspension. Stanislav Kritsyuk is injured but Mauricio Pereyra returns having missed the first leg through suspension.
Valencia have two players of their own unavailable due to suspension and Dani Parejo and Facundo Roncaglia will both miss out. Ezequiel Garay is an injury doubt but minus any forced changes, the team should be similar to that from this first leg.
Krasnodar have done well at home in the Europa League recently but his is arguably their toughest test. They need to win in the game to have any chance of progressing and Valencia have the ability make things difficult and hit them on the break to win the match.