After the outright shocking and devastating loss at the Mestalla against the weakest FC Barcelona in decades I'm not too sure what to expect from this match. Normally I would say Valencia CF will have a tough match, but we are likely to score a win here, we should have that much talent and ability, but this team seems to be weaker than the team who started this season's campaign. So in 9 months we've become weaker as a team rather than becoming stronger.
Last match Jose Bordalas fielded the strongest team on paper, excluding the absence of Thierry Correia due to injury, so what can he change now to improve upon last match? Yeah, Mallorca is no Barcelona, but neither was Deportivo Alaves and they managed to beat Valencia CF and make us look like the relegation battling team.
I think Uros Racic did so well last match that he secured himself a spot for this match, I think he deserves a chance here, I'd exclude Illaix Moriba from the starting lineup as I don't see what he brings to the game, between him and Hugo Guillamon I'd include Hugo as a more defensive midfielder.
In defense we are weak all over the place, even that left flank which Gaya had covered so well for so many years, even that is now shattered as Gaya seems to have a hard time blocking some of the crosses and passes from his flank.
Really the only bright spot has been Correia who's been injured so often this season, and maybe its because he is pushed too early into action after recovering, maybe he needs a special fitness regiment in order to try and minimize him on field injuries.
The only way for Valencia CF to concede less goals is to have a more dominant midfield, I'm not a football pro, but in my humble opinion we need a strong midfield in order to prevent a lot of these attacks and avoid having to rely so much on our weak defense.
I think individually Omar Alderete has been poor, so has Foulquier, so has Gaya, so has our new addition Comert. Thankfully Gabriel Paulista is back, a bit too soon if you ask me, but I guess the team needs him and they'll rush him to action. I still feel like he needs 2 more weeks of fitness and getting up to speed before he is ready, but I have a feeling that Jose Bordalas is going to play him in this match regardless of him fitness and form.
In terms of lineup I think we'll see pretty much the same lineup, but with Racic instead of Hugo or Illaix and Gabriel Paulista instead of Diakhavy or Alderete. At this point I think Diakhaby is slightly the better option of the two, but we'll see what Bordalas goes for. Jose Gaya is also out of this match with injury, so is Toni Lato so we are going to see Jesus Vazquez on that position.
I'm hoping for a win, but our recent results really put a damp on that thought, realistically its probably going to be a draw, I'm not even considering a loss here as that would put the team in crisis mode and probably even shaken Bordalas's position. I think he was more effective in the first half of the season, especially early on and then it was hit and miss, but we didn't have absurd and big losses like we have now.