Aside from the leading two clubs in this season’s La Liga campaign, Barcelona and Real Madrid, Friday’s hosts, Valencia, remain the only other side in the Spanish top flight yet to taste defeat at home this season.
Valencia will therefore be keen to extend their unbeaten status at their fortress, Estadio de Mestalla, in this upcoming clash against local rivals, Levante, as the hosts look to stay in touch with the top six and maintain their bid for a possible European spot next season.
Recent results though have been fairly disappointing for Valencia who have managed to pick up just one win from their last five matches which came in the shape of a 2-1 home win against Real Betis but defeats away from home at Getafe and Real Sociedad prevented them from breaking into the top six so far.
However, as mentioned earlier, Valencia have been an extremely tough opponent at their Estadio de Mestalla having won 8 and drawn 6 to date on home turf which includes impressive draws with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as well as an impressive 2-0 win against Barcelona.
Onto Levante, and the visitors resume their La Liga campaign in 13th place having signed off with a heavy 3-0 defeat away from home at Eiber and a point in a 1-1 draw at home with Granada just before the lockdown was issued.
Recent wins against Leganes 2-0 and a notable 1-0 victory over Real Madrid had prevented Levante from dropping further down the La Liga table, but it’s also worth mentioning that both of these wins were record on home turf at their Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.
However, it’s a very different story away from home for Levante who head into this fixture against local rivals, Valencia, on the back of a worrying five-match losing streak away from home which has seen the visitors incur defeats at Atletico Madrid, Osasuna, Barcelona, Villarreal and Eibar.
In addition, Levante have lost 11 of their 14 away matches to date in the Spanish top flight and they also possess the second worst defensive record away from home (behind only to third from bottom outfit, Mallorca), having conceded 2 goals or more in 9 of their 14 away matches to date this term.
Valencia therefore look the more likely for the three points here.