Valencia’s redemption starts now
Seasons to forget all round
The 2021/22 La Liga season gets underway on Friday evening at the Mestalla, a ground playing host to Valencia’s match against Getafe. Neither team had a season to remember last time out, with Valencia finishing 13th, their lowest position since 1988, and Getafe struggling to find consistent form, finishing 15th. But 2021/22 brings a fresh start for these two sides, with new Valencia manager Pepe Bordalas taking charge against his previous side, Getafe. This will certainly provide us with an extra twist to the tie, with Bordalas looking to kick his team into action against his former employers.
Mestalla the fortress
Despite last season being a campaign largely to forget, with Valencia losing 15 of their 38 league games, their home form was actually very strong. In the notoriously intimidating Mestalla stadium, they picked up 31 points from their 19 games at home. This was obviously let down by having the second-worst away form in last season’s campaign. If they’re to improve this season, then those improvements don’t necessarily need to come at home. Their goals will likely come from one of Carlos Soler or from striker Maxi Gomez, with the pair combining for 18 goals last season. However, with Soler only recently returning from the Olympic games, he could be somewhat jaded and off the pace. Something else that should play into Valencia’s hands despite last season’s struggles is Getafe’s away form last year. They lost 11 of their 19 away matches, winning only three of them. While Getafe will hang on to their impressive pre-season form, this can only count for so much. They really struggled to score last season, with joint top scorers Jaime Mata and Angel Rodriguez combining for just five goals each. Unless they can stay solid at the back, I can see Valencia making a strong start here.
La Liga wide open?
This has been quite a feisty fixture over their past three meetings, with four red cards being dished out across these games, so I wouldn’t blame you if you went for the bookings market. However, with Valencia being unbeaten in their past four matches against Getafe at the Mestalla, I can’t see Getafe getting one over their former manager on Friday. With the obvious elephant in the La Liga room of Leo Messi leaving the league, there’s a feeling that this season’s title race could be wide open. This isn’t to say that I expect either team to challenge for the league, but it wouldn’t be entirely impossible for one of these sides to sneak into the European spots this season.
While the safe choice may be a Valencia win/draw, I’m backing the hosts to claim all three points due to their imperious home form and need to bounce back after a poor campaign. That’s why I’m backing Valencia with bet365
Post bet chat Archie's Tips:
Valencia won 1-0 thanks to a Soler penalty, despite going down to 10-men just two minutes in!