Preview: Valencia vs. Las Palmas
Valencia will be aiming to make it successive wins at the start of their 2023-24 La Liga campaign when they welcome newly-promoted Las Palmas to Mestalla on Friday night.
Los Che will enter the contest off the back of an impressive 2-1 victory over Sevilla at Estadio Ramon, while Las Palmas began life back at this level of football with a 1-1 draw at home to Mallorca.
Valencia finished a disappointing 16th in La Liga last season, which was their worst campaign in Spain’s top flight since their relegation to the Segunda Division in 1985-86.
Los Che have not been a top-four outfit since 2018-19, and it is difficult to imagine them returning to the Champions League positions in the near future due to their financial restrictions.
Valencia have a very talented crop of youngsters, though, and there is no question that the players would have gained huge confidence from their excellent 2-1 victory at Sevilla last Friday, with 20-year-old Javi Guerra coming off the bench to net the winner in the 88th minute.
Ruben Baraja’s side have only managed to make two signings this summer, bringing in Cenk Ozkacar and Pepelu, while the likes of Yunus Musah, Jorge Saenz, Edinson Cavani and Toni Lato have moved on.
Under the circumstances, a top-half finish in La Liga this season would be considered a success, and they will be aiming to improve their away form in 2023-24, having only picked up 13 points from their 19 matches on their travels last term.
Las Palmas, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw against Mallorca on Saturday, with Jonathan Viera making the breakthrough in the 29th minute of the match from the penalty spot before Antonio Raillo levelled the scores in the 70th minute.
La Union Deportiva were last in La Liga during the 2017-18 campaign, spending five years in the second tier before securing a return by finishing second in the Segunda Division last season.
As a result, anything above 18th would be considered a success this season, and it will be fascinating to see how the team perform this term under highly-rated head coach Garcia Pimienta.
Las Palmas have brought eight new players to the club this summer, including Sandro Ramirez and Munir El Haddadi, while Wilfrid Kaptoum and Florin Andone have been among those to depart.
The Yellow and Blues have actually won four of their last five La Liga games against Valencia, including a 2-1 success in their last meeting at this level in January 2018.
Valencia La Liga form:
W
Las Palmas La Liga form:
D
We say: Valencia 2-1 Las Palmas
This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and both sides will certainly believe that they can hurt the other in the final third of the field. It would not be a surprise to see a draw here, but we have a feeling that Valencia will edge a close match in front of their own supporters