Real Valladolid vs Espanyol Prediction: Don’t expect a high-productive game

Sunday's pool of the 24th round of the Spanish La Liga will begin with a match in which Valladolid will meet Espanyol. The home team is slightly favored, while we will note the fact that in terms of tone, the advantage is on the side of the guests.

After a surge of activity in the first half of February, during which period Valladolid won two games out of three, the future hosts lost two away matches in a row: 1:2 to Betis and 0:3 to Celta. Before starting the 24th round of Spanish La Liga, Valladolid sits in 17th position with 24 points, only one point more than Valencia near the relegation zone. In other words, the motivation of the future home team is fine. Valladolid's home statistics are 14th in the division, +5=2-4, 9:9 goal difference in 11 games. As you can see, Valladolid's home matches are often low-scoring. Moreover, after the winter break, Valladolid has not played high-scoring matches in the native walls.

Unlike Valladolid, Espanyol won their last two La Liga games. They were stronger on the road against Elche 1:0 and beat Mallorca 2:1 on their home field. Thanks to the six points scored in the last two rounds, the Catalans climbed to the 12th place in the standings of the Primera Liga. Visually, the team's position is comfortable, but the gap between Espanyol and Valladolid is only three points. The density at the bottom of the table is very high. Espanyol's away stats are eighth in the division but worse than Valladolid's home stats. In 11 games, Espanyol has won three times with five draws and three losses, for a goal difference of 13:14.

The match is vital for both teams; Valladolid needs a win, while Espanyol is quite happy with a draw. In this case, the teams are not significantly different in class, and Valladolid's home statistics are better than Espanyol's. In the confrontation between these teams, the field factor plays a role. At least in the last ten face-to-face meetings, the guests have won only once. We believe that this trend is very likely to have a continuation. As for the total, we have already noted that Valladolid at home is a bottom team, so we should not expect high performance in the upcoming game.

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