Valencia vs Espanyol Prediction, Preview, Predicted Lineups and Team News | La Liga

Valencia vs Espanyol Preview

• Tournament: La Liga
• Date: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
• Kick-Off Time: 17:00 PM GMT
• Venue: Mestella Stadium, Valencia

Valencia and Espanyol are both looking to climb into the top half of the La Liga table as they battle for a spot in their upcoming La Liga clash. The Valencia vs Espanyol clash will take place on Tuesday, April 22 2025 at 17:00 GMT at the Mestella Stadium.

Valencia's form has significantly picked up over the last few months, as they have climbed up to 14th place with 38 points from 32 games. They are now well clear of the relegation zone and are in some good form, having won three of their last five competitive games too.

Carlos Corberan has gotten his players playing some slick attacking football and improving their defensive shape too. Valencia will not only have to hold together a sturdy defensive shape at home to oust Espanyol, but also need to be at their decisive best in putting their chances away to come out with all three points in this one.

Espanyol have also picked up their form over the last few weeks, having won three of their last four La Liga matches, which includes the recent one against Getafe. They've only conceded one goal in their last four games and have the best defensive record in the bottom half of the La Liga table. They have, although, only won three away games in La Liga this season.

Manolo Gonzalez will, however, work hard to ensure that complacency doesn't set in. He'll urge his side to maintain their mean defensive shape to frustrate the host and force them into causing errors. Espanyol will also need to tap into their clinical final product to breach the Valencia backline, score goals, and get a precious win away from the Mestella Stadium.

Valencia Team News

Valencia remain without their proactive right-back Thierry Correia as he is still recovering from a knee injury. He faces a fight to feature for his side before the end of this season. Ivan Jaime is also out of action with a hamstring injury. He'll need to pass a fitness test to be ready for this one. Enzo Barranachea is also a doubt after sustaining a shoulder injury in the last game.

Espanyol Team News

Manolo Gonzalez still has a few injury issues in his squad. Midfielder Jose Gragera is still a doubt as he is recovering from a foot injury. Brian Olivan remains a doubt because of an injury issue too. Winger Javi Puado, however, will be ready to play in this one after serving out a suspension.

Valencia vs Espanyol Predicted Lineups

Valencia Predicted Lineup (4-4-2):

Goalkeeper: Giorgi Mamardashvili

Defenders: Dimitri Foulquier, Cristhian Mosquera, Mouctar Diakhaby, Jose Gaya

Midfielders: Javi Guerra, Pepelu

Forwards: Luis Rioja, Diego Lopez, Andre Almeida, Umar Sadiq

Espanyol Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: Joan Garcia

Defenders: Omar El Hilali, Marash Kumbulla, Leandro Cabrera, Carlos Romero

Midfielders: Urko Gonzalez, Pol Lozano, Edu Exposito

Forwards: Antoniu Roca, Jofre Carreras, Roberto Fernandez

Valencia vs Espanyol Head-to-Head Record

These two Spanish sides have faced each other on 49 occasions in their history. Out of this, Valencia have won 24 games and Espanyol have come out on top on 14 occasions. In their last five meetings, Espanyol have won one match and the other four have been stalemates.

Key Players to Watch in Valencia vs Espanyol

Diego Lopez (Valencia)

Diego Lopez remains the biggest attacking threat for Valencia because of his incisiveness and unpredictability to his game. The Spaniard has overperformed his 6.11 xG (expected goals) with seven goals so far in the 2024/25 La Liga season, adding explosiveness to his side's frontline.

He's only averaged 0.4 shots on target per game, showing his ruthlessness in taking chances. Lopez has to use his speed and clever movement to torment the Espanyol defenders and unlock their stubborn shape. He will also need to pop up in the key areas and use his efficient finishing to help his side soar.

Roberto Fernandez (Espanyol)

Robert Fernandez has been quite an efficient player for Espanyol since joining in the winter transfer window. He's managed a decent 2.72 xG (expected), which he's spectacularly overperformed with five goals from just 12 matches so far. The Spaniard has a solid 36% goal conversion rate and only averages 1.2 shots per game.

Fernandez will look to use his smart off-the-ball movement to get past the marker of the Valencia defenders to cause mayhem in their box. He will need to be smart in tracking the movement of the ball and position himself in the key attacking areas to get at the end of opportunities and get back to scoring form.

Valencia vs Espanyol Prediction

These two teams have been riding on similarly impressive form, which should ensure that this upcoming clash will be quite a tightly competitive affair. Valencia's home form has been pretty solid in recent weeks, but even Espanyol have picked up their good work in away games.

This should be an entertaining game between the two sides, but might not feature that many goals because of their approaches. In the end, the pattern of draws in matches between these two sides are likely to continue with a scoring stalemate at the Mestella.

Predicted Score: Valencia 1-1 Espanyol

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