Valencia striker Álvaro Negredo. (Photo : Getty Images)
Middling club Valencia (2-2-3, 9 points) is set to clash with recently surprising squad Malaga (1-3-3, 6 points) at the Mestalla Stadium on Saturday, October 17 for a 2015-2016 La Liga encounter.
Els Taronges is struggling as of late as they lost two of their last three outings in the domestic competitions.
Their last match was a sorry 1-3 loss to Athletic Bilbao at the San Mamés Stadium on October 4 before the international break, as reported by ESPN.
Midfielder and team captain Dani Parejo was the only Valencia player to score in the match, giving his team a 1-0 lead at the 20th minute. However, the Los Leones trio of Aymeric Laporte, Markel Susaeta, and Aritz Aduriz poured in one goal apiece to bury the Valencianistes the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Los Boquerones stunned Real Sociedad with a 3-1 victory at their home turf of La Rosaleda Stadium on October 3 to book their first win of the season, as per SkySports.
Brazilian striker Charles completed a hat trick at the 4th, 7th, and 89th minutes for Javi Gracia's men to come away with the resounding win despite the fact that midfielder Fernando Tissone was sent off at the 71st after getting his second yellow card of the match.
Forward Imanol Agirretxe scored Real Sociedad's lone goal at the 14th minute.
Nuno Espírito Santo will look to redeem his squad in this match against lowly Malaga, although they have to be careful of not being overconfident against the hard-fighting Albicelestes eleven. Striker Álvaro Negredo is expected to play a crucial role in offense for Valencia.
Prediction: Valencia over Malaga, 1-0.
Valencia starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Jaume; Cancelo, Mustafi, Vezo, Orban; Fuego, Parejo; Feghouli, Gomes, Bakkali; Negredo
Malaga starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Kameni; Rosales, Angeleri, Weligton, Torres; Duda, Tissone, Recio, Juan Carlos; Cop, Charles
