Levante vs Girona Predictions

This Friday’s first game in La Liga sees two sides who have done better than expected this season meet. Levante have really built on the momentum built up at the end of last term under Paco Lopez while overall Girona have coped well with the departure of boss Pablo Machin and injuries to several key players.

The Catalans do head into this one without a win in 4 league games though. The injuries piled up towards the end of 2018 and the likes of Johan Mojica, Aday Benitez and Patrick Roberts remain sidelined. They did have some tough games at the back end of the year though with Sevilla and Atletico Madrid among their recent opponents and there should be more openings for them in this match.

Levante meanwhile ended what was a fine year for them on a bit of a sour note with a heavy home defeat to Barcelona and a 2-1 loss at struggling Rayo Vallecano. Like Girona, they have a record of 22 points from 17 games and are well on their way to a point where they will have secured top flight football for another term. That will still be the principal aim for both teams with some big clubs in the bottom half who may come on stronger in the second half of the season.

This game certainly serves up the potential for goals. A huge 88% of Levante home games this term in La Liga have seen over 2.5 goals and they will see no reason to really adapt their style given they’ve been getting good results on the whole. Only Huesca have conceded more goals than Levante in La Liga this term but the Valencia club do average 1.65 goals per game, the joint 3rd best record behind Barcelona and Sevilla.

Levante’s dodgy defence will certainly be music to the ears of Cristhian Stuani. The Girona frontman is having another exceptional season with 11 league goals from just 13 starts. Only Leo Messi has scored more in Spain’s top flight and backing Stuani to score anytime could be worth considering here.

Girona matches haven’t been quite as high-scoring overall as Levante’s but they have tended to be very cautious against the top sides and be much more positive up against the weaker ones, winning 3-1 at Espanyol for example in their most recent away success.

Overall backing Over 2.5 Goals could be the way to go here.