Espanyol vs Levante Betting Tips

It has been a turbulent week for the Catalans. Their 1-0 defeat at Celta Vigo at the weekend prompted the dismissal of manager Sergio and he looks set to be replaced by former Steaua Bucharest manager Constantin Gâlcă. The Romanian spent several seasons as a player at Espanyol so won’t be heading into unknown territory but isn’t likely to take charge of this game.

This is the 3rd meeting between the sides in the space of a fortnight. The 1st Leg of this Copa del Rey tie finished 1-1 with Roger Martí scoring a late equaliser for Levante and a goal that gives them genuine hope going into this 2nd leg.

The sides met again just a few days later in the league, this time in Barcelona and it was Levante who had the better of the game, which again finished 1-1. Levante suffered a really disappointing defeat at the weekend though, losing 2-1 at home to Granada. The result leaves them rock bottom of the division.

These sides obviously know each other quite well now and this could be another low scoring game that could turn into something of a chess match. Neither side have won any of their last 4 matches so it’s hard to feel confident about either coming out and putting in a dominant performance here.

The value looks to lie with the visitors though and you can back them to avoid defeat at 19/20.

It’s more likely to be a draw than an outright victory though and a repeat of the 1-1 scoreline from the last two meetings, looks as good a bet as any at 11/2. That would mean extra-time and it would be no shock to see this one go all the way to a shoot-out.