Levante will be looking to move out of the La Liga relegation zone when they continue their 2020-21 campaign at home to Elche on Saturday afternoon.
The Frogs are currently 18th in Spain's top flight, having picked up just six points from their eight matches thus far, while an encouraging start for Elche has left them in 11th spot in the division.
Match preview
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Levante have finished 15th, 15th and 12th in La Liga since returning to the top flight in 2017-18, but the early indications are that they could be in for a relegation battle this season.
The Valencia-based outfit have only won one of their eight league matches this term, suffering four defeats in the process, to occupy 18th position, level on points with basement side Huesca.
Levante do have a game in hand over the three teams directly above them, though, and they would move out of the bottom three if they manage to pick up a victory on Saturday afternoon.
Paco Lopez's side will actually enter this match off the back of three successive 1-1 draws, which followed three straight defeats to Sevilla, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao during a tough run.
The former Copa del Rey semi-finalists would have earmarked this match as the perfect chance to return to winning ways, but Elche will have been encouraged by their start to the season.
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Indeed, a total of 11 points from seven matches has left Elche in 11th spot in the table, level on points and games with title hopefuls Barcelona.
Los Franjiverdes will be desperate to consolidate at this level after coming through the Segunda Division playoffs last term, and there have been plenty of positive signs in the early weeks.
The Green-striped ones have only lost one of their last six in the league, collecting seven points from their last four matches against Alaves, Valencia, Real Betis and Celta Vigo.
Jorge Almiron's side have also impressibly picked up two wins from their three away La Liga games this term, although they lost 3-1 at Real Betis in their last match on the road.
Levante La Liga form: LLLDDD
Elche La Liga form: WDWWLD
Team News
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Levante will be without the services of Enis Bardhi and Jorge Miramon through injury, while Roger Marti will also be absent, having recently tested positive for coronavirus.
Nikola Vukcevic is available after recovering from injury, though, and the 28-year-old could be handed a spot in the middle of the park alongside Mickael Malsa.
Jose Luis Morales has scored four league goals this season and will continue in the final third, while Dani Gomez is also expected to feature in an attacking spot.
As for Elche, Youssouf Kone, Fidel and Emiliano Rigoni are all unavailable for selection, meaning that there will have to be at least one change from the side that started against Celta.
Juan Sanchez replaced the injured Fidel during the clash immediately before the international break and that is expected to be the alteration in the starting XI for Saturday's fixture.
Almiron could otherwise stick with the same side, meaning that Pere Milla and Tete Morente would again support central striker Lucas Boye in the final third of the field.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Son, Vezo, Postigo, Clerc; Campana, Vukcevic, Malsa, Rochina; Morales, Gomez
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Barragan, Verdu, Gonzalez; Josan, Marcone, Mfulu, Sanchez; Morente, Boye, Milla
We say: Levante 1-1 Elche
It would be some story if Levante played out a fourth successive 1-1 draw and that is what we are expecting to happen on Saturday afternoon. There is not an awful lot between the two teams in terms of quality, and we are finding it difficult to predict anything other than a low-scoring draw in this encounter.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Levante win with a probability of 44.53%. A draw had a probability of 28% and a win for Elche had a probability of 27.44%.
The most likely scoreline for a Levante win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.83%) and 2-1 (8.51%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.99%), while for a Elche win it was 0-1 (9.93%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13% likelihood.
