Lowly Almeria will be hoping to upset the apple cart at La Mestalla today. Valencia will have other plans, however, as they need to regain a bit of form if they want to remain close to Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid at the top of the table. In their last match out in the league, the home side drew 1-1 away to Celta de Vigo, in a match they probably should have won fairly comfrotably. Meanwhile, Almeria lost 0-2 to a superb Sevilla home at side as they dropped all three points after winning their last two.
As things stand, Valencia are sitting in fifth place in, which is good for a Europa League spot. However, a win today will see them level on points with Atletico Madrid who play hosts to Granada on Sunday. For Almeria, they have been one of the worst clubs all season long in the top flight of Spain this season. The visitors have four wins and four draws and sit on 16 points, but by no means are they comfortable down that far in the table. However, if they somehow manage to escape with all three points, they can take that confidence into the rest of the season to avoid relegation at seasons end.
Valencia will be without Nicolas Otamendi who has played superbly for Nuno in the back line as he misses this match with an ankle/foot injury. The 26-year-old had previously played every single minute of every and will be a huge blow for The Bats. Fellow Argentinian, Pablo Piatti will be sidelined with a nagging hamstring injury after he pulled up in the match against Real Madrid. For the relegation-threatened Almeria, they will be without Ximo Navarro, Zongo, and Fran Velez are are all suspended for this trip in the south of Spain while Ruben and Quique are both injured.
Do not expect Almeria to get anything from this match at all. The home side are too talented and should be able to win by at least two goals as they will attack from the opening whistle all the way to the last whistle. Almeria are going to defend to the best of their abilities while trying to hit Valencia on the counter. If the visitors get a goal at all from this match, it is going to be off of a set piece opportunity.