At the Ciudad de Valencia, two sides needing points for different reasons meet as Malaga travel up the to the eastern part of the country to face Lucas Alcaraz's Levante.
The hosts going into this match desperate for the full three points. They currently sit at the bottom of the Primera Division table on 16 points, three points clear from safety. Levante boast the second worse defense as they have let in 37 goals, while only finding the back of the net on 13 occassions, the worst in the league. Les Granotes have found really hard of late and haven't won any of their last five matches, while only scoring one in a 3-1 away defeat to the hands of Atletico Madrid.
Malaga are pushing for a Europa League spot and a win against lowly Levante could see their goal come to fruition. At the moment, however, Villarreal have a far superior goal difference. In their last match, a 25th minute strike from Samu Castillejo to seal the three points against a very good Valencia outfit. They will expected to be dominant from the kickoff in their upcoming match if they want to continue their push towards Europe.
Levante are without Ivanschitz, El Zhar, Diop, Sissoko, and Ivan are all going to be sidelined for this Saturday's match against Malaga. Meanwhile, Malaga have just three footballers who will be missing the trip as Rafa de Vicente is still out with an MCL tear, Roberto Chen tore his ACL, and Flavio, who is still being treatd for a back ailment. Finally, Sergi Darder will miss this match up the northeast coast due to suspension.
This match should be fairly one sided right from the opening whistle. Malaga are the better side on every part of the pitch and their quality should see them through. Samu and Amrabat lead the team with four goals each with Juanmi close behind with three goals. Levante will have to be extremely compact at the back and tight in the midfield in order to frustrate the visitors. Expect Levante to defend with two banks of four with possibly even ten back defending looking to hit Malaga on the counter.