Will the bats manage to win their first point away from home?
Spanish LaLiga fans can plan through a full weekend of live football. As a rule, all ten games will kick off at different times. On Sunday, the live spectacle starts at 2pm and ends with the final whistle of the evening game at 11pm. The first match on Sunday will take place at the RCDE Stadium, with hosts Espanyol taking on Valencia.
A match where the bookies can’t settle on the outcome. Between Espanyol and Valencia, a look at the betting odds shows no difference between a home and away win. Both options are offered at around a 2.65. In fact, at first glance, a prediction is quite difficult, as the home side are still without a point in their own stadium this season, while the bats from Valencia have not yet been able to register on away soil.
Nevertheless, the two teams are separated by five points in the current LaLiga table before the start of matchday six. The visitors look back on by far the better start to the season thanks to their performances at the Mestalla Stadium. Can the Gattuso eleven now also score away from home for the first time?
Espanyol Barcelona – Statistics & current form
After the relegation in the 2019/20 season without any problems, the Catalans managed the direct re-promotion under head coach Vicente Moreno. The Catalans also managed to stay in the league last season without any major problems. At no point during the season did the team find itself in a relegation spot. Nevertheless, head coach Moreno and the club parted ways after 36 match days. One point from five games marked the end of their collaboration.
After a year’s break, Diego Martinez, long-time head coach at Granada, was hired as a promising young coach from Andalusia. He led Granada from the second division to sixth place in the highest division.
No points in front of home crowd
In the first six games under Martinez, only one win has been achieved so far. Away at Athletic Bilbao they managed a narrow 1-0 win, in the five remaining games Espanyol left the pitch as losers four times and still managed a draw against Celta Vigo. The team has been particularly disappointing at home, with three defeats from three games.
So far, the sporting management is still keeping the necessary calm and giving Diego Martinez time to settle in. This patience, however, will be endless and there must be an improvement in the coming weeks. Especially with a view to the coming games, because after Valencia, feasible opponents await with Cadiz, Real Valladolid, Osasuna, Elche and Mallorca.
Valencia is certainly the strongest competitor. An opponent who is also to be placed above Espanyol in terms of quality, so a bet in the direction of the home side is also quite risky. What is interesting between Espanyol and Valencia, however, is the bet that both teams will score. Espanyol’s home games have been characterised by many goals so far. Two out of three games ended with a both-to-score or over 3.5.
Predicted line-up of Espanyol Barcelona:
Fernandez – Calero, Cabrera, Gomez – Olivan, Souza, Exposito, Darder, El Hilali – Braithwaite, Joselu
Last matches played by Espanyol:
La Liga
18/09/2022 – Real Sociedad 2 – 1 Espanyol
10/09/2022 – Espanyol 2 – 3 Sevilla FC
04/09/2022 – Athletic Bilbao 0 – 1 Espanyol
29/08/2022 – Espanyol 1 – 3 Real Madrid
20/08/2022 – Espanyol 0 – 2 Rayo Vallecano
Valencia – Statistics & current form
At Espanyol Barcelona, the big names are not really to be found in the squad. With the bats from Valencia, however, this looks completely different. Since this season, the former Italian runner-up Gennaro Gattuso has been working as head coach. Edinson Cavani was a real transfer coup, and despite his advanced age, the veteran is still a great addition to the Valencia attack. With Carlos Soler (PSG) and Goncalo Guedes (Wolverhampton), Valencia had to let go of two important players.
Bubbly or seltzer
In the first six league games of the still young season, there has not been a single draw, three games were won, three times there was a defeat. The discrepancy in performance between the games at home in the Mestalla and away is glaring.
While three of the four games at home (one defeat against Atletico Madrid) were won, Valencia conceded defeats away from home against Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano. At home, the offensive has proven its scoring prowess with nine goals so far, but this has not yet been achieved away from home with only one goal.
A certain scepticism towards betting on the visitors is understandable in view of these statistics. With Valencia, however, it seems to be only a question of time that the performances will also be suitable away from home. The quality of the squad is definitely one step above that of Espanyol Barcelona. Therefore, a win for the home side would also be quite surprising, which speaks for the tip “DNB 2” between Espanyol and Valencia.
Predicted line-up of Valencia:
Mamardashvili – Gaya, Cömert, Diakhaby, Correia – Ilaix Moriba, Guillamon, Almeida – Lino, Cavani, Castillejo
Last matches played by Valencia:
La Liga
17/09/2022 – Valencia 3 – 0 Celta Vigo
10/09/2022 – Rayo Vallecano 2 – 1 Valencia
05/09/2022 – Valencia 5 – 1 Getafe
30/08/2022 – Valencia 0 – 1 Atletico Madrid
21/08/2022 – Athletic Bilbao 1 – 0 Valencia
Espanyol Barcelona – Valencia Direct comparison / H2H record
Cross-competition direct comparison speaks a very clear language in favour of the bats from Valencia, who have won 85 of their 175 matches. Espanyol only have 54 victories.
However, the home advantage at the RCDE Stadium is of great importance for Espanyol, as they have won 43 of their 82 home games in the Spanish top flight. This means that Espanyol have won more than 50 percent of all league home games. And last year’s results are also encouraging for the home side, as Espanyol collected four points in their two games against Valencia as a promoted team.
Espanyol Barcelona – Valencia Tip
Ahead of this match, it is clear that at least one pointless streak will definitely come to an end. Last season, Espanyol Barcelona had the edge in the direct comparison, but nevertheless, the guest from Valencia is the team that is qualitatively stronger. Valencia has also been able to prove this at times during the current season. This is one of the reasons why the prediction between Espanyol and Valencia goes in the direction of the visitors.
After two away defeats with only one goal scored, doubts are justified when betting on the Gattuso charges. However, 2.70 for Cavani & Co. to win is very high.
Value is definitely available at these betting odds and therefore this tip is played with five units between Espanyol and Valencia. To minimise the risk, the Draw-No-Bet is also recommended. As there have been many goals in Espanyol matches so far, the Both-to-Score is also an option worth mentioning.;
