Valencia welcome Real Oviedo to the Estadio de Mestalla for a Monday night Spanish La Liga fixture. Los Che are enjoying a solid enough start to the season, while the newly promoted visitors are finding life in the top flight difficult.
Valencia will be pleased with their start to the season, having gone unbeaten in five of their opening six La Liga matches. They played out a 2-2 draw at Espanyol in their previous fixture, with Hugo Duro among the goals.
Home form is likely to play a pivotal role for Valencia this season, and they are unbeaten in their three matches at the Mestalla so far. Carlos Corberan’s men claimed a 2-0 home victory over Athletic Bilbao last time out in front of their fans.
Meanwhile, Real Oviedo are struggling to cope with life in the top flight and are looking like prime candidates to make a swift return to the second tier. Veljko Paunovic's men have lost five of their opening six matches and are currently in the bottom three.
Real Oviedo head to the Mestalla off the back of a 3-1 home defeat to Barcelona in their midweek La Liga fixture. The newly promoted side have also been particularly poor on their travels, losing all three of their away matches without scoring a single goal.
How the bookies view it: Upper hand for Valencia
Valencia have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 8/13 by BoyleSports to claim the win. An unlikely victory for Real Oviedo is valued at 4/1, while a draw is set at odds of 11/4.
Head to head: Valencia in top
Valencia have the superior record in this fixture and are unbeaten in the last nine matches against Real Oviedo. The hosts claimed a 2-0 victory in the last home meeting back in the 2000-01 season.
Players to watch: Duro on fire
Hugo Duro has stood out for Valencia this season, with three La Liga goals so far. The striker will be the one to watch on Sunday and will be keen to increase his tally (Hugo Duro anytime goalscorer – priced at 6/4 with BoyleSports).
Valencia have also been solid at the back, keeping clean sheets in their last two home matches. Mouctar Diakhaby and Cesar Tarega have been mainstays at the back and can lead the hosts to another shutout (Valencia clean sheet – available at 11/10).
Probable line-ups:
Valencia have no major injuries or suspensions ahead of Sunday's clash. Diakhaby and Tarega are expected to continue their partnership at the back, while Duro should lead the line alongside Arnaut Danjuma.
Real Oviedo have a few injury problems, with Nacho Vidal, Ovie Ejaria and David Costas all sidelined. David Carmo is expected to feature at the heart of the defence while Salomon Rondon is set to retain his place in attack.
Valencia: Agirrezabala, Folquier, Tarega, Diakhaby, Gaya, Rioja, Samtamaria, Pepelu, Lopez, Duro, Danjuma
Real Oviedo: Escandell, Alhassane, Carmo, Bailly, Ahijado, Chaira, Dendoncker, Reina, Hassan, Cazorla, Rondon
Anything else catch the eye?
Valencia have scored over 1.5 goals in three of their last four matches (Valencia over 1.5 goals – offered at 10/11 with BoyleSports). The hosts have also won to nil in their last two home matches (Valencia win to nil – valued at 6/4).
There have been more goals after the break in Valencia’s last four matches (Second half most goals – set at odds of 21/20).
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