Valencia will be looking to end a three-game winless run in La Liga when they continue their 2021-22 campaign away to Cadiz on Saturday evening.
Los Che have only picked up one point from their last three league matches to drop down into eighth position in the table, while Cadiz occupy 15th spot, having picked up six points from seven games this term.
Match preview
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Cadiz impressed on their return to this level of football last season, claiming 12th, meaning that they are playing in back-to-back campaigns in Spain's top flight for the first time since the early 1990s.
The Yellow Submarine have won one, drawn three and lost three of their opening seven matches of the 2021-22 La Liga season to collect six points, which has left them in 15th position in the table.
Alvaro Cervera's side drew their first two league games of the season against Levante and Real Betis before suffering back-to-back losses to Osasuna and Real Sociedad, but they have lost just one of their last three, picking up four points in the process courtesy of a win over Celta Vigo and draw with Barcelona.
Cadiz have scored seven league goals this season but conceded 11, which is among the poorest defensive records in the league at this stage, but the team have shown enough in the early stages to suggest that they are more than capable of competing at this level once again.
The Pirates also took four points off Valencia in the league last season, running out 2-1 winners in the home fixture before claiming a point in a 1-1 draw at Mestalla.
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Valencia, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Athletic Bilbao last weekend; Inigo Martinez's 69th-minute effort looked to be securing all three points for the visitors, only for Marcos Andre to come up with a 95th-minute leveller for Los Che.
Jose Bordalas's side made a strong start to the campaign, picking up 10 points from their opening four league matches, but they are now winless in their last three, losing to Real Madrid and Sevilla during a tough run.
Valencia's off-the-field issues have been well-documented in recent years, and they finished 13th in Spain's top flight last season, which proved to be their worst campaign since claiming 14th in 1987-88.
Los Che's return of 11 points from seven matches has left them in eighth position, but they would almost certainly rise up the table ahead of the international break with another victory on Saturday.
The six-time Spanish champions had the second-worst away record in the league last term, picking up just 12 points from 19 matches, and Bordalas will be determined to improve on that record in 2021-22.
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Team News
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Cadiz will again be without the services of Jon Ander Garrido and Fali this weekend through injury, while Jose Mari remains a doubt due to a thigh problem.
Head coach Alvaro is expected to make changes from the side that started the defeat to Rayo Vallecano last time out, with Alvaro Negredo and Ruben Sobrino likely to return to the starting XI.
Salvi Sanchez should hold off competition from the likes of Anthony Lozano and Alvaro Jimenez to feature in the final third, but Alberto Perea is pushing to be involved as part of a midfield three.
As for Valencia, Jose Gaya, Denis Cheryshev and Carlos Soler will again miss out through injury, while Cristiano Piccini and Thierry Correia remain doubts for the visitors.
The visitors will also be without Maxi Gomez, who received a red card in the draw with Athletic, so Andre could come into the starting XI, potentially joining Goncalo Guedes in attack.
Daniel Wass should feature in the middle of the park, alongside Hugo Guillamon, while Hugo Duro and Yunus Musah are expected to operate in the wide areas once again.
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Akapo, Cala, Haroyan, Espino; Perea, Jonsson, Alarcon; Salvi, Negredo, Sobrino
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Foulquier, Paulista, Alderete, Lato; Musah, Guillamon, Wass, Duro; Guedes, Andre
We say: Cadiz 2-2 Valencia
Both teams have a lot of talent in the forward areas, and we are predicting a very open game on Saturday. Valencia will have earmarked this match as the perfect chance to return to winning ways, but we are backing Cadiz to collect a point for their troubles this weekend.
Top tip
Matt Law
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 Valencia win with a probability of 46.61%. A draw had a probability of 28% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Valencia win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.48%) and 1-2 (8.57%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.87%), while for a Cadiz win it was 1-0 (9.66%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood.
