Las Palmas‘ battle to escape the La Liga relegation zone will continue on Saturday evening when they welcome Valencia to Estadio Gran Canaria.
Los Amarillos are currently 18th in the La Liga table, two points behind 17th-placed Alaves, while Valencia occupy 14th spot, seven points clear of the relegation zone heading into the final straight.
Match preview
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Las Palmas are certainly making a fight of it when it comes to the relegation battle, with two wins from their last three matches significantly boosting their chances of escaping the bottom three in the final stages of the campaign.
Diego Martinez‘s side recorded two excellent wins over Getafe and Atletico Madrid before travelling to Athletic Bilbao last time out, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat to the Basque side, with the result seeing them remain inside the La Liga relegation zone.
Pio Pio are only two points behind 17th-placed Alaves, though, and a win over Valencia on Saturday could also pull Los Che back into trouble, so there is no downplaying the importance of this weekend’s contest.
Las Palmas have actually won three of their last four La Liga matches against Valencia, including a 3-2 success at Mestalla earlier this season, while they were 2-0 winners in the corresponding game during the 2023-24 campaign.
Los Amarillos have found it difficult in front of their own fans this season, though, claiming just 17 points from 16 matches; that said, Valencia only have one win from 16 away league games during the 2024-25 campaign.
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Valencia’s form is excellent, with Los Che unbeaten in their last eight league matches, recording four wins in the process, with their last loss proving to be a 3-0 reverse to Atletico Madrid at the end of February.
Carlos Corberan‘s side have only been beaten once in the league since the end of January, while they will enter this match off the back of successive draws with Rayo Vallecano and Espanyol.
Los Che have a record of nine wins, 12 draws and 12 defeats from their 33 league matches this season, with 39 points leaving them in 14th spot in the table, seven points outside of the relegation zone with five games left.
Valencia, as mentioned, have had real issues in terms of winning on the road this term, only posting one away success in La Liga, but they have shared the points on eight occasions on their travels.
Los Che have not actually beaten Las Palmas away from home in La Liga since January 2002, which is an indication of the size of their task in this match against a side that has shown huge signs of improvement.
Team News
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Las Palmas will have Javi Munoz back in their squad on Saturday following a suspension, but Benito Ramirez, Fabio Silva, Jasper Cillessen and Kirian Rodriguez are all expected to again be unavailable for selection.
Head coach Martinez could make just the one change to the side that started against Athletic last time out, with the returning Munoz potentially being introduced for Marvin Park.
Oli McBurnie should continue in the final third of the field, while there will be another spot in the attack for Sandro Ramirez, who has scored eight times in Spain’s top flight during the 2024-25 campaign.
As for Valencia, Cesar Tarrega is unavailable for selection due to a suspension, while Thierry Correia remains on the sidelines with a long-term knee injury.
Mouctar Diakhaby is expected to be the player to benefit from Tarrega’s absence, with the defender in line for a spot in the XI, but the team may otherwise be unchanged from the one that took to the field for the first whistle against Espanyol.
Javi Guerra is having an eye-catching campaign for Valencia, scoring three times and registering three assists from midfield, and the Spaniard will once again be in the Valencia side for this contest.
Las Palmas possible starting lineup:
Horkas; Rozada, Suarez, McKenna, Marmol; Essugo, Bajcetic; Munoz, Moleiro, Sandro; McBurnie
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Diakhaby, Mosquera, Gaya; Barrenechea, Guerra; Rioja, Almeida, D Lopez; Duro
We say: Las Palmas 1-1 Valencia
Valencia’s recent form has been excellent, but Los Che are a difficult team to back on their travels; Las Palmas also deserve credit for their recent performances, so we are therefore finding it difficult to pick a winner this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
