Mestalla Stadium is one of the finest stadiums in Spain. It has a seating capacity of more than 50 thousand. However, this Valencia-based stadium is set to host it’s first UEFA Champions League match of the season against Ajax in the early October. But within half a week, it will also arrange another La Liga fixture against Deportivo Alaves. The game day 08 fixture will also be the 5th Spanish Primera Liga game hosted by this venue in this season. So before going into an international friendly break, the Oranges will continue their home journey by playing back to back games at their abode.
On the other hand, it is going to be Alaves’ 4th away game of the season. They will have this trip to the Mestalla following their home fixture against Real Mallorca. Nevertheless, after almost 2 week’s break, they will return to their home once again to play Celta Vigo in their next game.
Match Details:
- Participating Teams: Valencia CF vs Deportivo Alaves
- Competition: Spanish La Liga
- Match Day: 08
- Date: 5th October 2019
- Time: 5:30 pm BST / 4:30 pm GMT / 6:30 pm Local Time
- Day: Saturday
- Venue: Estadio de Mestalla
- Location: Avenida Suecia, Valencia, Spain
- Capacity: 50,500
- Surface: Grass / Sand
Valencia Squad:
- Goalkeepers: Jasper Cillessen, Jaume Domenech.
- Defenders: Gabriel, Mouctar Diakhaby, Jose Gaya, Daniel Wass, Cristian Piccini, Ezequiel Garay, Salvador Ruiz.
- Midfielders: Alvaro Medran, Maxi Gomez, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Carlos Soler, Dani Parejo, Kang-In Lee, Ferran Torres, Uros Racic, Francis Coquelin.
- Forwards: Manuel Vallejo, Goncalo Guedes, Denis Cheryshev, Jason, Ruben Sobrino, Kevin Gameiro, Rodrigo.
Alaves Squad:
- Goalkeepers: Fernando Pacheco, Antonio Sivera.
- Defenders: Rafael Paez, Alberto Rodriguez, Olivier Verdon, Ruben Duarte, Rodrigo Ely, Victor Laguardia, Guilermo Maripan, Ximo Navarro, Daniel Torres, Adrian Marin, Martin Aguirregabiria.
- Midfielders: Saul Garcia, Rafa Navarro, Jeando Fuchs, Nando Garcia, Javier Munoz, Pere Pons, Lucas Perez, Tomas Pina, Manu Garcia, Mubarak Wakaso, Patrick Twuamasi.
- Forwards: Ramon Mierez, Luis Rioja, Joselu, John Guidetti, Burgui, Ermedin Demirovic.
Valencia Last 5 Matches (Up to the Writing Date) :
- 0-1 Defeat vs Celta Vigo
- 1-1 Draw vs Real Sociedad
- 2-1 Win vs Barcelona
- 2-0 Win vs Valladolid
- 3-1 Win vs Alaves
Alaves Last 5 Matches (Up to the Writing Date) :
- 0-0 Draw vs Espanyol
- 1-0 Win vs Levante
- 2-1 Win vs Girona
- 1-3 Defeat vs Valencia
- 0-1 Defeat vs Real Sociedad
Predicted Result: Valencia 2 – 0 Alaves
Match Preview: At first, let’s talk about the last 5 meetings. Out of those 5 meetings, Valencia prevailed thrice and Alaves won the other two games. Most surprisingly, the home side came out victorious on all 5 occasions.
As Mestalla will arrange the game and in the last 3 meetings in that particular ground, Los Ches got the better of their counterparts on all 3 occasions. So it will keep the oranges ahead statistically as well as mentally. But Alaves should cheer themselves considering the shaky start by their opposition. Moreover, after a busy week and most importantly following a UCL game against Ajax, Valencia players may well be tired too. However, they should feel happy reminding that they haven’t had to travel at least.
I’m guessing a one-sided match. I will also put my money in Cillessen’s favor to keep a clean sheet in this fixture. Finally, my prediction is a 2-0 victory for the home side.