Valencia CF is coming to this match after a tough game against Athletic Bilbao in midweek in which Valencia CF managed to secure a draw, which puts the team in great position leading up to the second leg of the semi final which will be played at the Mestalla.
There were a lot of positives from last match with Valencia looking more secure at the back as our players quickly covered Bilbao players and didn't allow them much space, midfield was still miss and hit, but there was at least a fighting spirit for every ball and every inch of grass and in the second half Valencia CF actually dominated the match for the most part. It was overall a scrappy match, but we did play a lot better than previous matches. Bryan Gil was a standout performer as he looks to be the real deal, very high quality player in a long while in our squad.
So looking at tomorrow's match everything looks positive and I'm expecting a secure win. There are no new injuries, the team has been training well and it should be a good match. Deportivo Alaves are at the bottom of the table and fighting to avoid relegation, they have a very leaky defense with 38 conceded goals, second only to Levante who are in last place with 46 conceded goals. Even though this seems like an assured win, you can never write off anyone and team with nothing to lose can go all out to try and clench a win. So Valencia CF should approach this match somewhat cautiously and try to keep everything solid, keep everything tight and slowly but surely try to chip off their defense which we know is leaky and should concede a goal or two.
So yeah, I'm expecting overall a comfortable win, I'm thinking 2-0 to Valencia CF, but even a small 1-0 win is enough, we just need to get 3 points no matter the result so that we maintain theoretical chances for a European League spot. Valencia's biggest issue has been the defense this season as we've conceded 36 goals, just two less than Alaves, but fortunately we've been decent in attack and have managed to rescue few points through our attack, otherwise we could have been fighting relegation as well.
The last few matches give me hope that our defense has been improved, though once again we need more solid midfield so that we don't have to rely too much on our defense, as they say a good offense is the best defense.