Preview: Levante vs. Espanyol - prediction, team news, lineups

Levante will continue their fight against relegation from La Liga when they welcome Espanyol to Estadio Ciudad de Valencia on Saturday afternoon.

The home side are currently 20th in the table, seven points from the safety of 17th position, while Espanyol occupy 12th spot, having collected 32 points from their 27 league games this term.

Match preview

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Levante picked up seven points from their three matches against Atletico Madrid, Celta Vigo and Elche between February 16 and February 25, which gave their survival hopes a boost, but they will enter this match off the back of a 3-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Monday night.

Alessio Lisci's side remain 20th in the table, collecting just 18 points from 27 matches, and they are seven points from the safety of 17th position, which is an indication of their struggles this term.

Levante have the second-worst home record in La Liga this season, picking up just 12 points from 13 matches, which is certainly a concern ahead of this contest, although Espanyol have also struggled on their travels, managing just seven points from 13 games, recording only one win in the process.

The Frogs can certainly take confidence from the fact that they have lost just one of their last four in the league, but they are entering a tough run of games, facing Osasuna, Villarreal and Barcelona in their three matches after this one, before a huge game at Granada on April 16.

Levante have also only won one of their last seven La Liga games against Espanyol and suffered a 4-3 defeat in the reverse match between the two sides earlier this season.

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Espanyol, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-0 win over Getafe on March 5, with the victory moving the Catalan outfit into 12th position in the table.

The White and Blues were promoted back to Spain's top flight for the 2021-22 campaign by winning last season's Segunda Division, so consolidating at this level once again was always going to be their priority.

As a result, it has been a successful season for the club to date, with a record of eight wins, eight draws and 11 defeats from 27 matches bringing them 32 points, which is enough for 12th spot in the table.

Espanyol are eight points clear of the relegation zone and only four points behind ninth-placed Valencia, so they should be looking up the division rather than down, although the victory over Getafe last weekend was their first in La Liga since the end of December.

The Catalan side, as mentioned, have a strong recent record against Levante and recorded a 1-0 victory when the two teams last locked horns in Valencia in October 2019.

Team News

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Levante are set to be without five injured players for this weekend's contest, with Carlos Clerc, Jose Luis Morales, Jose Campana, Sergio Postigo and Shkodran Mustafi all likely to miss out.

Morales's absence will open the door for Enis Bardhi in the final third of the field, but head coach Lisci is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack from the defeat at Athletic.

Jorge de Frutos and Roger Marti should both continue in attacking areas, while Pepelu is expected to retain his spot in the middle of midfield alongside Gonzalo Melero.

As for Espanyol, Manu Morlanes will again miss out with a groin problem, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape heading into this weekend's contest.

Having put in a strong performance against Getafe last time out, it would not be a surprise to see head coach Vicente Moreno select the same XI for this match.

Raul de Tomas has scored 13 league goals this season and will again lead the line, while Tonny Vilhena is expected to retain his spot on the left despite pressure from Nico Melamed.

Levante possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Rober, Duarte, Caceres; Miramon, Melero, Pepelu, Son; De Frutos, Marti, Bardhi

Espanyol possible starting lineup:
D Lopez; Gil, Calero, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Herrera, Bare; Puado, Darder, Vilhena; De Tomas

We say: Levante 1-1 Espanyol

There has only been one draw in the last five La Liga meetings between these two sides, but we can see the points being shared on Saturday afternoon. Levante have shown improvement in recent weeks and will fancy their chances of holding an Espanyol side that have struggled on their travels this term.

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