Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s La Liga clash between Espanyol and Valencia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Valencia will be looking to claim a second consecutive victory when they travel to the RCDE Stadium for Tuesday’s La Liga meeting with Espanyol.
Meanwhile, the hosts will be looking to bounce back after their unbeaten start to the season was ended by Real Madrid on Saturday.
Match preview
After securing their safety on the final day of last season, the early signs of Espanyol’s latest La Liga campaign suggest they could set their goals a little higher this term.
Manolo Gonzalez’s troops took 10 points from their opening four matches, including victories in their first three home games against Atletico Madrid, Osasuna and Mallorca.
However, they were unable to extend their unbeaten start in Saturday’s trip to the Santiago Bernabeu, falling to a 2-0 defeat following efforts from Real Madrid’s Eder Militao and Kylian Mbappe.
The fourth-placed side will now return to the familiar surroundings of the RCDE Stadium, where they will attempt to maintain their status as one of four La Liga teams with perfect home records this season.
The Periquitos have avoided defeat in their last six games against Valencia, although the previous five meetings have finished all square.
Espanyol’s last win over Valencia took place at Mestalla in December 2021, while their most recent head-to-head home victory took place in August 2018.
Valencia are sitting in 11th position in the standings after winning two, drawing one and losing two of their opening five matches.
Los Che have picked up all 10 of their points at Mestalla, including all the spoils in Saturday’s meeting with Athletic Bilbao.
Valencia took full advantage of Dani Vivian’s 61st-minute red card, as Baptiste Santamaria went on to score his first goal for the club, before he provided the assist for Hugo Duro to add a second in stoppage time.
While they would have been buoyed by the 2-0 victory, there may be some sense of trepidation ahead of their return to Catalonia just ten days after they slumped to a heavy 6-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.
That result made it four away league games without a win since Carlos Corberan’s side beat Las Palmas 3-2 at the start of May.
If they are to pick up all three points, Valencia will have to beat Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium for the first time since Dani Parejo and Maxi Gomez found the net in a 2-1 victory in November 2019.
Espanyol La Liga form:
W D W W L
Valencia La Liga form:
D L W L W
Team News
Espanyol have reported no injury concerns ahead of Tuesday’s fixture, although Pere Milla will serve the second game of a three-match suspension.
Experienced striker Kike Garcia could start for the second time this season if Gonzalez opts to alter his forward line.
At the opposite end of the pitch, the Espanyol boss is expected to keep faith with the back four of Omar El Hilali, Fernando Calero, Leandro Cabrera and Carlos Romero.
Meanwhile, Valencia have not reported any injury concerns, meaning Corberan should have a fully fit squad to choose from.
Duro is pushing for a starting berth after coming off the bench to score his second goal of the season in Saturday’s win over Athletic.
If Duro is given the nod over Dani Raba, he will likely operate in a front two pairing with summer addition Arnaut Danjuma.
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Dimitrovic; El Hilali, Calero, Cabrera, Romero; Exposito, Gonzalez, Lozano; Dolan, Puado, Kike
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Agirrezabala; Foulquier, Tarrega, Diakhaby, Gaya; Rioja, Santamaria, Guerra, Lopez; Duro, Danjuma
We say: Espanyol 2-1 Valencia
Espanyol have won all three of their home matches this season, and we think they will continue that impressive record by edging out a Valencia side that have lost their opening two away games of the 2025-26 campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
No Data Analysis info