Valencia CF vs Schalke 04 Match Preview, Champions League

Uefa Champions League, round of 16. Valencia CF vs Schalke 04

Valencia's biggest match in few seasons is almost here. Valencia CF has been out of the Champion League competition for quite a while and last time it was in the competition it went out miserably.
Valencia has had few tests this season to find out if they can compete with the big teams in the biggest competition of the world and the results have been good, which means Valencia has what it takes to compete.

But now its different, its real, its here and its played over 2 rounds. Will the Valencia camp get intimidated, anxious, nervous, its the first time after so long that the team is this far in the Champions League and with a real chance of doing well. Will this pressure make or brake Valencia?

One thing is certain though, if Valencia are to beat Schalke 04 then they need a victory in the first match, which is of course player at the Mestalla. Achieving a good result at home is crucial to having a chance to beat Schalke 04. A good game will be if Valencia wins 2-0, or even 1-0, without conceding goals.

The sides' two previous competitive matches at Mestalla both ended in draws. It finished 0-0 in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage and 1-1 ten years previously in a UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg. On that occasion Schalke's 2-0 home win sent them through, while the 2007 Gelsenkirchen contest ended in a 1-0 victory for Valencia.

Team	G	GA	YC	RC	AT	AW	OF	CO	FC	Poss.(t)	Poss.(%)
FC Schalke 04	10	3	11	1	32	28	12	32	89	164	43%
Valencia CF	15	4	8	0	45	39	7	45	82	167	46%

Valencia CF play their biggest match in the entire season on Tuesday at the Mestalla stadium and only a win can set the path to beat Schalke 04, as you already all know German teams are very strong at home and with the support of their fans and enthusiasm may create problems for Valencia on the return leg.
This is why its very important Valencia to win the first match as comfortable as it can, preferably by not conceding a goal. Best result would be something like 2-0 or of course anything above like 3-0, etc...
But no doubt that a result of 2-0 will be great and will put Valencia in a comfortable position for the second leg of the match.

Valencia are on a good row of 7 wins in 9 matches in the Spanish league and they would hope to carry their good form over to the Champions League match.
Valencia now occupy 3rd place on the table, benefiting from Villarreal's slip-up against Deportivo this week and is on 47 points from 23 games.
Valencia also has a solid record in the Champions League with 15 goals scored and only 4 goals conceded. This makes a difference of 11, which is the second best difference along with Barcelona and Arsenal, with only Real Madrid having a better difference of 13.

Valencia's last six home games against German visitors have produced five draws and a defeat. Their most recent victory came in October 1996 with a 3-0 success against FC Bayern München in a UEFA Cup first round tie. They have won just three of their ten home matches against German sides; their overall record is W4 D9 L8.

Schalke 04 on the other hand are currently sitting in 10th position in the German bundesliga and have generally been struggling this season, even though they boost some great talent in their ranks like Klass-Jan Huntelar, Raul and their international goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
However the situation with Schalke 04 in the bundesliga they are still a dangerous team and even managed to play a draw with current bundelsiga leaders Dortmund just two weeks ago and won their last match against Freiburg. They are also very strong in the Champions League so far and have one of the best defensive records with Real Madrid and Manchester United the only clubs with better defensive records.


Schalke's record in eight competitive games away to other Spanish opponents includes two wins and a draw. In a total of 19 games their record is W6 D5 L8.

Interviews and conferences: 

Raúl González, Schalke 04 player
Valencia is a team Raúl knows all too well, having scored 12 goals (five at Mestalla) in 24 Liga games against them, plus one in Madrid's 3-0 UEFA Champions League final victory in May 2000. "It certainly won't be easy but, personally, I've got good memories from playing there," he said, sentiments no doubt shared by Spanish club-mates Sergio Escudero and José Manuel Jurado. "I played many games there at club level and with the national team.Valencia are a great team but this is going to be a very even tie. It's always a pleasure returning to Spain. It's a really great incentive for me especially playing against such a strong rival and in a stadium that generates a great atmosphere; it's an extraordinary setting to play a Champions League game

Christoph Metzelder, Schalke 04 player
Valencia and Schalke are a bit similar. We have had big changes as well. Valencia lost their key players in the summer.
I think both teams are saying: It will be hard, but it's feasible. Maybe it's a small advantage for us that the return leg will be here in Gelsenkirchen. I was involved in some great games at Valencia. There were always passionate matches when they played Madrid.

Unai Emery, Valencia CF coach
It's such a beautiful, attractive and exciting game to play in that we are not thinking about a result right now. The favourites for the Champions League are Real Madrid and Barcelona – after that there isn't much difference and Schalke 04 and Valencia are dead level. We believe in our qualities but respect our opponents' too – Schalke are very competitive.
There are several ex-Madrid players at Schalke and it shows you their quality; those players make the difference. This should be something that motivates us. The key point of this round is intelligence over 180 minutes, and being able to overcome individual and collective problems. It is a very important game. I came to this club to take them to where they want to be and there is a great opportunity for growth.

Felix Magath, Schalke coach
We're facing a very strong team who are third in the Spanish league and have done a great job in the Champions League, scoring a lot of goals. Valencia as a team are similar to Lyon but stronger in attack. We are hoping to get a goal to give ourselves a better chance in the second leg. The team are improving because they're getting to know each other and the way we work. In the Champions League we've been doing better because we've had many new, experienced players who needed time to get used to the Bundesliga.

I was expecting a reception like this because of the sense of expectation Raúl brings. Now I just hope he can score tomorrow. Raúl is a great player in football terms and in human terms is an example to follow both on and off the field.

Valencia CF official squad:  
Goalkeepers: Cézar, Guaita.
Defense: Bruno, Miguel, R. Costa, Dealbert, Navarro, Mathieu, Jordi Alba.
Midfield: Maduro, Topal, Ever, Tino Costa, Joaquín, Pablo, Mata, VIcente, Domínguez.
Attack: Jonas, Aduriz, Soldado.
David Albelda and Moya are still recovering from their long term injuries. Mata has been injured for 2 weeks, but its possible to be ready for this match. Jeremy Mathieu was having sickness on Saturday and has been rested and should be available for this match.
Stankevicious is out since he can't play for Valencia CF in the Champions League, but Valencia can select new signing Jonas and has all other defenders fit and ready.

Schalke 04 official squad:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Mathias Schober
Defense: Benedikt Höwedes, Christoph Metzelder, Lukas Schmitz, Atsuto Uchida, Sergio Escudero, Hans Sarpei
Midfield: Peer Kluge, Jefferson Farfan, Jurado, Julian Draxler, Hao Junmin, Joel Matip, Ali Karimi
Attack: Raul, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Mario Gavranovic, Edu


Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-1-2-1-2
Line up: Guaita; Miguel, Navarro, R. Costa, Mathieu; Topal, Banega, Tino, Chori; Soldado, Aduriz
Tactics: High attacking frequency by the full backs, medium defensive line and opposing field pressure, deep zone defensive midfielder, middle field attacks, mostly short passing with mixed crossing.
With Mata a doubt for this match and Banega and Chori rested, I can't see any other formation that Emery is going to play. Maybe a 4-4-2 would make sense, but that would make our defense vulnerable and with these defensive players we just can't take many risks.
The best answer for attack and defense is to have high ball possession and this is the formation and players that can do that.

Result prediction:
Valencia CF 2-1 Schalke 04
I know Emery is one of those safe tacticians and would be instructing the players to be careful and playing slow and I know that Schalke is going to be defending for most of the match and will be hoping for a draw, but there should be goals. I can see Valencia scoring two goals against Schalke, but I'm not too confident in our defense so I'm guessing we are going to concede a goal too.

Atletico Madrid 1-2 Valencia CF - Match Report

Atletico Madrid failed to halt their run of successive defeats at the Vicente Calderon and were left to rue a Diego Forlan missed penalty. Los Che scrapped hard for the 1-2 victory which moved the visitors into third in La Liga. The loss all but shatters Atleti's hope of reaching fourth place for another season.

Valencia battled hard without the likes of Juan Mata, injured, and Ever Banega out suspended and gradually grew in the game without ever really testing David De Gea in Atleti's goal but they made the most of the few chances they had.

Los Colchoneros took an early lead through a persistent and clinical Jose Antonio Reyes but despite dominanting the first-half for long periods found themselves going into the break on level terms, as Joaquin made the most of defensive lapses. Late in the second-half the Valencia captain ruined another evening this year for Atletico by placing a low shot beyond De Gea for the three points. Madrid finished the night with ten men, as Diego Godin was shown a straight red card for a high elbow.

A scrappy start by both clubs in the Spanish capital was quickly put to rest by the home side, Diego Forlan collected the ball wide on the left for Atletico Madrid and squared a nice ball into Jose Antonio Reyes; with only a few minutes on the clock the winger danced through two casual tackles and buried his shot into the far corner.


Quique Sanchez Flores' men settled down nicely after scoring and controlled the game in terms of territory but passing from both was sloppy. Valencia continued to lack shape despite some nice work from Roberto Soldado on the right wing, but the striker watched his dangerous cross just cleared out.


Clear cut chances were failing to materialise for a dominant Rojiblancos, captain Antonio Lopez twice in the thick of things. The left-back first claimed for a penalty as he poked the ball round Joaquin but there was neither contact on the ball or the player. Lopez then watched his rather tame free-kick deflect off the wall and fortunately for Valencia the ball went behind for a corner.

Valencia thought they had finally cut open Atleti five minutes before the break when a wonderful pass from Tino Costa split full-back and centre-back but Jordi Alba had just strayed offside. Los Che only had to wait a matter of seconds beofre they were infact level. Pablo Hernandez picked out Alba in space on the left and his low cross was missed by everyone near post, allowing Joaquin to tuck home his third of the season.

Atletico had more to worry about going into half-time with an injury to goalscorer Reyes. The winger was clipped by Hedwiges Maduro and tried to spin out the tackle, but landed awkwardly on his back.
The hosts made a bright start but couldn't force the early goal in the second period like they had done in the first, Tiago's drive finding a wall of orange shirts to deny the Portuguese midfielder.

Los Che were just getting themselves back in the game when Maduro brought down Reyes with a crunching tackle in the box to concede a penalty. However, the visitors had luck on their side as Diego Forlan could only drive his spot-kick back off the post.

Aguero looked like he was going to break his 2011 duck with a turn of speed Valencia couldn't keep tabs with but the Argentine's shot was smothered by Vicente Guaita.

The game was becoming end to end as both sides went for the kill. Pablo Hernandez fed Jordi Alba on the overlap but the wing-back could only hit the side netting with his shot. It was the same result at the other end when a poor clearance dropped kindly for Reyes, but his volley was palmed round the post.

Frustrations could be heard all round the ground from the home fans making their voices heard with every missed opportunity and Atletico were made to pay late on. Mehmet Topal's burst down the left caught the hosts out at the back, and his pull-back was perfectly placed into the corner by Joaquin for his second of the night.

It went from bad to worse for the red and whites, Diego Godin being harshly sent-off leading with an elbow on Joaquin. The defender kept his eyes on the flight of the ball going up for the header but the referee saw intent in the challenge and Sanchez Flores looked a disturbed man in the dugout.
The loss keeps Atletico in 8th place in the table, while Valencia leapfrog Villarreal into third temporarily.

Source: Goal.com

Technical details:
Atlético (1): De Gea, Valera, Antonio López, Tiago, Forlán, Raúl García (Mario Suarez, min. 82), Agüero, Fran Mérida (Juanfran, min. 61), Godín, Reyes y Perea.

Valencia CF (2): Guaita, Bruno (Miguel, min. 74), Maduro (Navarro, min. 78), Topal, Joaquín, Soldado (Aduriz, min. 63), Stankevicius, Pablo H., Ricardo Costa, Tino Costa y Jordi Alba.

Goals: 2nd min. 1-0  Reyes; 40th min. 1-1 Joaquín; 85th min 1-2 Joaquín.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 7 - Several good saves, looked confident through the match. 
Bruno 5.5 - Good defensively, did not go forward and was more comfortable sitting in defense.
Stankevicious 6 - Decent showing, did not make any bad mistakes and was largely good in defense.
Maduro 5 - Probably the worst player on the pitch. Almost gifted Atletico a second goal with his penalty give away.
R. Costa 5 - Beaten once, but it counted. Other than that it was a decent match.
Alba 6 - Went forward a lot more than Bruno, has few shots on goal and one good cross that found Joaqin. Was in the middle of the mess for the first goal and that counts as negative.
Joaquin 8 - Scored the two goals and certainly best player, along with Pablo. Some ruined dribbles, but provided when important.
Topal 6 - Not too influential with so many defenders and didn't link-up good with Tino Costa. He several interceptions, but nothing stand out.
Tino Costa 6.5 - Bonus point for running without stopping and having that killer pass. Not very influential in the midfield and of course could not manage possession.
Pablo 7.5 - The most creative player in the field, provided 1 assist and created the chance that lead to the first goal.
Soldado 6 - Good when going on the wing, but unlucky that he was the striker, the one that should be in the penalty area and had no one to play with.
Subs:
Aduriz 5.5 - Probably did not have enough time, but did nothing more than what Soldado already did.
Miguel N/A - He had 2 sloppy passes, but not enough time overall to judge him.
Navarro N/A - Made one crucial interception, but again not enough time to form a mark.
NOTE: Did a small score update, increased alba's score by 0.5 and reduced soldado score by 0.5, this is after seeing the match again.

Atletico Madrid vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

One of the biggest rivalry Valencia CF has is with Atletico Madrid. While teams like Hercules and Levante are the historical rivals, they have barely played against Valencia and realistically the rivalry stands as one of a more historical value than it really is.
The rivalry with Atletico Madrid is real though, since these are two teams that have been almost equally successful through the history of the Spanish league and have always exchanged punches. Valencia is the one with a slight advantage in success, but Atletico is always trying to overcome Valencia.

These two teams have played 141 matches against each others and both clubs have 52 wins each. In fact in recent times these two have been so equal that last season, as well as this one all matches, but one have ended in a draw. Yes, the only reason Atletico Madrid advanced in the Uefa Cup, now the Europa cup is because of the away goal rule.

This season Valencia has a chance to revenge last seasons Uefa cup dismissal from Atletico Madrid by beating them on their home ground in front of their own fans. Valencia has so far had a quite well season, while Atletico Madrid has been struggling a bit and are under pressure to perform and bring in good results.

Atletico Madrid currently sit at 8th position on the table with 30 points, 14 less than Valencia CF who sit at 4th spot, only 1 point behind Villarreal.
Atletico Madrid has scored 31 goals and conceded 29 goals, which is a pretty good result statistically speaking, the problem is that they have conceded goals when drawing and thus resulting in a loss and no points.

Atletico Madrid squad: to be announced...


Valencia CF on the other hand are one point behind 3rd placed Villarreal and are on a unbeaten run of 8 matches. Everyone will want to continue this streak and with the way Atletico Madrid have been playing, a win is also not that far off.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Saúl.
Defense: Miguel , Bruno, David Navarro, Stankevicius, Ricardo Costa, Dealbert, Jordi Alba.
Midfield: Maduro, Topal, Tino Costa, Pablo, Joaquín, Vicente.
Attack: Jonas, Domínguez, Aduriz, Soldado.

Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line up: Guaita; Miguel, Stankevicious, R. Costa, Alba; Topal, Tino Costa, Joaquin, Vicente, Chori, Soldado.
Tactics: N/A
To tell you the truth, I have no idea what formation Emery is going to use or the tactics for probably the only second time in the season.
Valencia is playing away and from one side Emery could go the safe route and establish a 4-2-3-1 formation, or he could really open up and set up the 4-4-2 formation, as we now have the players. We have 4 attackers and we can not fear one not playing well or getting injured, since we have it covered.

Result prediction:
Atletico Madrid 1-2 Valencia CF
These teams have more draws in recent times than Barcelona has wins. Depending on how we open up this match I expect either a draw or a victory. Historically I would call this a draw, especially since Valencia play away from home, but Atletico Madrid have been playing really poorly and I hope Valencia can take advantage of it and win.

Valencia CF earns 1/4th of Barcelona and Real Madrd

Deloitte’s annual report on European football revenues has been released, and it reveals that once again Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona top the game’s money league.

I think you guessed who the top two would be, its not that hard to guess considering all stuff.

1st. Real Madrid; Revenue: €438.6m. Last year €401.4m
2nd Barcelona; Revenue: €398.1m. Last year €365.9m
3rd Manchester United: Revenue €349.8m. (€327m) 

As you can see the biggest money clubs are Barcelona and Real Madrid and incase someone was wondering why and how Spanish league was a 2 horse race, here is your answer - money. Only Real M. and Barca can purchase the best world players and it doesn't matter if they are 100 million euros or 40 million euros, they can do it. In fact Sandro Rosell(barca president) said he was planning a 60 million euros offer for Cesc Fabregas in the upcoming summer.


Valencia on the other hand gets about 40 million euros for TV rights, it gets about 40 million from ticket sales, it gets around 5 million for accessories and an additional 5-10 millions from sponsorship deals.


So all accounted for Valencia earns around 90-100 million euros per season, of course much depending on the success of the season.


I think its safe to say that Spanish league wont be competitive for at least another few years.

Valencia CF players called on international duty

Few Valencia CF players have been called for international duty for their respective countries.

First up is Ever Banega who has been called for the Argentina national team and seems likely that he is going to start for Argentina in the friendly against Portugal. He and Mascherano have formed a good partnership in the middle for Argentina.

Ricardo Costa also got into Portugal's squad, after Real Madrid's Ricardo Carvlaho sustained an injury. Ricardo gave an interview just several days earlier, saying how he would like to be called up for Portugal national squad and he got his chance.

Maduro is also called up for the Holland national squad and he seems to be becoming a regular player for Holland. Maduro created the chance and provided the assist that led to the only goal in Holland's last match, in which they won 1-0.

Jeremy Mathieu once again was not called for French national squad, Manuel Fernandes lost his place in the Portugal national squad after the change of coaches there, Topal was also overlooked by Guus Hiddink for Turkey national squad and Del Bosque did not call up Pablo, Soldado or Aduriz for Spain, even though his squad has been reduced to 20 man from injuries. Mata is injured and he also won't make the Spanish team, although this may be a good thing, since Valencia play in the Champions League very soon against Schalke 04 and will need all players rested, fit and injuries-free.

Valencia CF 2-0 Hercules CF - Match Report

Valencia CF had a great weekend, after every possible result going its way, from Villarreal loosing, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Espanyol all loosing and allowing Valencia CF with 3 points to catch up to Villarreal, as well as get away from the closest club behind it, Espanyol.

It was all down to Valencia CF to get the 3 points and climb to only 1 point behind Villarreal and escape Espanyol and right now Atletico Bilbao, who after their win are one point ahead of Espanyol.


Unai Emery decided to go with the formation that he used in the second half in the last match with few minor changes to the line-up. For example Topal took Maduro's place as a defensive midfielder and Bruno took Miguel's place, since Miguel has been hit with big personal problems and is facing 5 years in jail.


The match started with low tempo, though as early as the 4th minute Tino Costa had a shot on goal, but the ball went wide.

Valencia CF was having most of the possession and was slowly pushing towards Hercules goal. In the 12th minute Ever Banega also tried his luck with a long range effort, but his shot went wide also.

Hercules managed a rare counter attack in the 18th minute and tried to threaten Valencia's goal, but couldn't really make anything out of it.

Valencia was having control of the ball, but the chances weren't easy to come by. Banega tried a long pass to Bruno in a dangerous area to Hercules, but Bruno failed to control the ball and it went into goal kick.
Hercules countered and after a good link-up Abel send a powerful shot towards Valencia's goal, but it went over the crossbar.

Valencia had another good chance to score a goal in the 38th minute after a corner by Tino found Topal, but his shot only managed to hit the bar even though he shot from just few meters away from goal.

The match seemed destined to finish 0-0 at half time, but then Navarro send a pass to Soldado who made a superb pass through a Hercules defender legs and found Aduriz and this one somehow luckily scored a goal in the 42th minute. In fact I'm not even sure if Aduriz touched the ball, though it somehow went into the net. Magic maybe?


The second half started with Valencia again in control of the ball and once again this will pay off, as Tino Costa managed to score a goal in the 53rd minute of the match from a well taken free kick.

After the second goal Valencia seemed to go down in lower gear and the play eased up a  bit with neither side really pushing towards goal and a good 15 minuted were played solely in the middle of the field. A rare chance came towards Soldado who headed the ball towards goal, but it didn't went in.


Aduriz had a claim for a penalty in the 75th minute after he fell down in the penalty area, but realistically he failed to make the most of a great pass to him and should have scored a goal then.

Hercules mounted a good attack in the closing stages of the match after a Stankevicious mess. As it turns out Stankevicious decided to dribble against a Hercules player with the goal totally exposed and lost the ball. After a rebound from Topal the ball came to one of Hercules attackers, but Guaita made a terrific save to deny Hercules a goal.

Valencia had 2 more chances to increase the score after Soldado managed to steal a ball from a Hercules defender, managed to get the ball flying in the air and as the ball was coming down he and substitute Joaquin mixed up, made a mess and even though Soldado managed to shoot at Hercules goal the same player who lost the ball managed to save his goal. Alba then made a good pass to Soldado, but Soldado only managed to shoot straight in the goalkeeper.

Ultimatelly the match ended in a 2-0 victory for Valencia, a victory that puts it into a good position with just 1 less point than Villarreal.

Technical Details:
Valencia CF (2): Guaita; Bruno, Stankevicius, Navarro, Mathieu; Éver (Joaquín, min. 85), Tino Costa, Topal, Domínguez (Isco, min 75); Soldado y Aduriz (Jordi Alba, min. 84).

Hércules CF (0): Calatayud; Cortés, Juanra, Rodríguez, Peña (Gomes, min. 39); Fritzler, Abel Aguilar (Drenthe, min. 62); Tote, Thomert (Rufete, min. 73), K. Femenía; Valdez.

Goals: 43min. 1-0 Aduriz; 52min. 2-0 Tino Costa.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 7 - Great save in the 81st minute to deny Hercules a goal. Had few more good saves.
Bruno 6.5 - Unspectacular but effective in the back, reasonably good going forward.
Navarro 6 - Did not have too much to do, but nothing really messy and did a good job.
Stankevicious 5.5 - Had a great match and then decided to dribble and gave Hercules the ball and a huge chance to score. Other than this huge mistake he had a great match overall.
Mathieu 7 - Solid defensively and offered good support going forward as well, had a bit more trouble later on when Drenthe came in for Hercules, but still won most of the duels.
Topal 6 - Very good positioning, kept things simple with short safe passes and helped out in defense when needed.
Banega 7 - The driving force in the midfield, spread the ball well and had great one-two passes with Tino. Had few shots, but most importantly kept possession for Valencia.
Tino 7.5 - Scored a superb goal as usual, very active all over the field, fought for every ball and came back sprinting to help in defense every time.
Chori 6 - Good showing, although not very influential. He had two great through passes that found their target, but regrettably the players would not use them.
Soldado 7 - Once again a great performance from Soldado. Unlucky not to get on the score board himself, but set up Aduriz goal with a superb pass and played really well, especially linking-up with Aduriz.
Aduriz 6 - Scored a goal, but failed to convert many opportunities. Found good positions, but as I've said he failed to convert many opportunities he had.
Subs:
Isco 5 - Had few touches with the ball, but you can see that he was very anxious and made several mistakes. He needs more confidence and more playing time in the first team obviously to iron out the mistakes and be more calm and confident.
Alba N/A - Not enough time
Joaquin N/A - Not enough time

Valencia CF vs Hercules CF - Match Preview

On February the 6th Valencia CF will welcome Hercules CF on the Mestalla in what would be yet another important match and pursuit for 3 points.

Valencia CF currently sits at 4th spot on the table with 41 points and will be looking to add 3 more points in this next match against Hercules and hopefully come closer to Villarreal, yet at the same time adding more points between Espanyol.

It is going to be hard to catch Villarreal even if Valencia CF wins, as Villarreal will have to loose points, but they play at home as well and are most likely to win. Valencia CF has some comfort because they are going to play against Villarreal, Barcelona, Sevilla and R. Madrid at home.

Valencia has had some good and some bad news this past week. Bad news is that Miguel is in a lot of trouble after its peen publicized that he faces 5 years in jail and then he showed his middle finger to reporters just 2 days ago, Mathieu has been offered take it or leave it contract extension, R. Costa got a red card in the last match and is not available for selection, and the likes of Cezar, Moya, Albelda and Mata are still recovering from their injuries.

Good news is that Navarro's red card was erased by the referee committee and will be available for selection, new arrival Jonas has been incorporated in the squad and is practicing with the rest of the team, Banega has been playing well and Chori has expressed motivation to keep on working in order to help the team.

Valencia is currently on a row of 7 unbeaten matches in La Liga and last time they've lost was against Real Madrid on December 5th in 2010. Valencia also just failed to make it to 6 straight wins after it only managed a draw against Racing.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Saul.
Defense: Bruno, David Navarro, Dealbert, Stankevicius, Miguel, Mathieu, Jordi Alba.
Midfield: Topal, Banega, Maduro, Tino Costa, Isco, Pablo, Joaquin.
Attack: Dominguez, Soldado, Aduriz, Jonas.

Hercules CF on the other hand are currently sitting in 13th place on the table with 22 points and are struggling at the moment. In fact they've lost their last 3 matches and have lost quite a bit of ground in the mid table fight.

Hercules have conceded 34 goals and they have one of the worst defenses in the Spanish League, only better to Sevilla, Almeria and Malaga. They boost quite an attacking threat in the form of David Trezeguet and Nelson Valdez and between them they have scored 16 goals. Even though their two forwards are quite dangerous and have scored 16 goals between them, they are still overall at the middle of the pack in terms of goals scored.

Hercules main goal against Valencia will be to get a draw and stop their recent string of losses and with that get back on track for a mid table finish.

Hercules biggest problem right now and one that could endanger their plans for a draw is injuries to three of their central defenders Pamarot Noah, Abraham Paz and Momo Sarr. Hercules only have one central defender, Sergio Rodríguez, to face Valencia and their coach Esteban Vigo will have to find a way to overcome this problem.

Hercules CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Juan Calatayud, Piet Velthuizen, Unai Alba
Defense: Paco Peña, Juanra Cabrero, David Cortés, Sergio 'Rodri' Rodríguez
Midfield: Abel Aguilar, Cristian Hidalgo, Francisco Rufete, Matías Fritzler, Tiago Gomes, Rosyston Drenthe, Kiko Femenía, Olivier Thomert
Attack: David Trezeguet, Nelson Valdez, Javier Portillo, Tote López


Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-1-2-1-2
Line up: Guaita; Miguel, Stankevicious, Navarro, Alba; Maduro, Tino, Banega, Chori, Soldado, Aduriz.
Tactics: Center field attacks, medium defensive line, hugh opposing team pressure, CF player in free role, position swaps between the midfield players.
I think its the most reasonable formation in order to keep possession and be threatening. We've seen that formations with one striker don't work and unless VCF plays 4-4-2 formation the wing players just don't seem to know how to play and this is why I think this is going to be the formation and player of choice for Unai Emery.

Result prediction:
Valencia CF 3-1 Hercules CF
Hercules have enough firepower upfront to hurt our defense knowing they have the experienced and reliable Trezeguet and the talented Valdez with his pace and trickery.
Even though I think our defense is going to concede a goal, Valencia CF should also have enough firepower upfront to score 3 goals and enough talent in the midfield to control the game.