Espanyol – Valencia

Valencia will not allow Espanyol’s attack to get free

On Sunday 2 October, Espanyol take on Valencia at home. The hosts are still bottom of the table. It is a very disappointing situation for new coach Diego Martinez and the ambitious club management. Espanyol won their only match of the season against Athletic in Bilbao, playing from defence. The number one has not yet been successful. At home Espanyol managed to lose three games out of three, although it is worth discounting the level of the opposition. The Catalans faced Real Madrid and Sevilla, while the defeat to Rayo Vallecano is no longer justified. Espanyol were also affected for the worse by the departure of Raul de Tomas. The team's best player was among the leaders in the scoring race last season. Plus De Tomas left amid a conflict with the coaching staff. This had a significant impact on the team at the start of the season. Now Espanyol are forced to rebuild their game given the difficult circumstances. Valencia are a lot like their closest rivals in terms of team development, but not in terms of results. The management launched a new revolution in the summer. Gennaro Gattuso was largely unexpectedly made the new coach. Even more surprisingly, the specialist was immediately able to motivate the team to perform strongly. Valencia have lost several key players. In particular, Gedesh and Soler departed. They are two of the defining players responsible for the development of almost all the club's attacks. Valencia are not relegated to the bottom of the table. At the moment, the Mousses are on the mid-table. The uncompromising nature of Valencia's performance is noteworthy: three wins and three defeats. Valencia have had a rather complicated calendar. Defeats have been recorded against Atletico and Atlético de Madrid. Gattuso's team lost by one goal. If we take the unexpected defeats, it is only the game with Rayo Vallecano, but even there, the opponents were in fine form. Valencia are skewed towards home games. At home, the club has picked up all the points, while away games have so far only resulted in defeats. The two teams have a fairly favorable situation regarding the injured players. The only player who cannot play for Valencia is reserve keeper Domenech. Espanyol are without three players, but there are no systemic losses. The next game is more important for the hosts. The Catalans need to break their black streak and move up from the bottom of the table. Valencia will probably not resist a peaceful outcome. "The Mice can play rather pragmatically in the style of Gattuso. Espanyol's positional attack is still very weak, so not many goals are in sight.