Valencia will be aiming to bounce back from successive La Liga defeats
Valencia opened their 2022-23 La Liga campaign with a 1-0 victory over Girona, with Carlos Soler scoring the only goal of the contest from the penalty spot.
Los Che have been on the wrong end of 1-0 scorelines in their last two games, though, losing at Athletic Bilbao on August 21 before going down at home to Atletico Madrid last time out, with a total of three points from three matches leaving them in 14th position in the division.
Valencia finished ninth in La Liga last term, but they have lost some important players over the summer, namely Goncalo Guedes and Soler, who moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
Gattuso’s side did manage to make a number of signings of their own, though, with Justin Kluivert, Ilaix Moriba and Edinson Cavani arriving on transfer deadline day.
Valencia recorded a 1-0 win over Getafe in the corresponding match last season, while they have not lost at home to their opponents this weekend since April 2018.
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Getafe, meanwhile, are 18th in the table after three matches, having picked up just one point, which came in their last match against Villarreal on August 28.
Quique Sanchez Flores‘s side started their season with back-to-back defeats to Atletico Madrid and Girona, conceding six times in the process, but there was an obvious improvement against Villarreal.
Getafe finished eighth, fifth and eighth in La Liga between 2017 and 2020, but they have been 15th in Spain’s top flight in the last two campaigns.
The Deep Blue Ones have two tough games against Real Sociedad and Osasuna before the September international break, and they will not want to enter October in the relegation zone, even if there is still so much football to be played this term.
Getafe have only lost one of their last seven La Liga matches against Valencia, but as mentioned above, they have not managed to beat Los Che at Mestalla for over four years.
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Valencia will again be missing Hugo Duro with an ankle injury, but the home side are otherwise in good shape ahead of this weekend’s contest with Getafe in terms of fitness.
Jose Gaya remains out through suspension, so Toni Lato should continue at left-back, while Soler’s departure could open the door for Nico Gonzalez to come into the XI.
New signings Kluivert, Moriba and Cavani will hoping to be involved, while Andre Almeida, who was an unused substitute against Atletico, will also be pushing to feature.
As for Getafe, Luis Milla and Damian Suarez are still on the sidelines with hamstring problems, but Fabrizio Angileri is available once again following a suspension.
The visitors signed Jordan Amavi and Munir El Haddadi on transfer deadline day, and both are pushing to be involved in the squad for this match.
Borja Mayoral is again likely to be joined by Enes Unal in the final third of the field, while Portu and Carles Alena could again feature in the wide positions for Sanchez’s side.
