Two sides in battles at opposite ends of the La Liga table will do battle on Saturday, as Levante play host to Villarreal.

With nine league games left to play, the hosts are rooted to the foot of the division, eight points adrift of safety, while their visitors sit just three points outside of the top six, having also recently reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

Match preview

In the midst of a dismal campaign, Levante find themselves stuck at the bottom of the La Liga table with time quickly running out, having won just three league outings all term.

The most recent of those came late in February, as the Granotes thrashed Elche 3-0 thanks to goals from Jose Luis Morales, Jorge De Frutos and Gonzalo Melero, but they were unable to build a run on the back of that.

Alessio Lisci's side were quickly brought back down to earth with a 3-1 defeat to Athletic Bilbao before playing out a draw with Espanyol and suffering a defeat at the hands of Osasuna heading into the recent international break.

As a result, the Valencia outfit find themselves three points behind 19th-placed Alaves and eight points adrift of safety, and, with only nine games to go, they are quickly seeing their slim survival hopes dwindle even further.

Now returning from the layoff, Lisci's men will know they have no more room for error if they are to mount a challenge to steer clear of the drop, and they will be desperate to kickstart a run with what would be an impressive win.

They take on a Villarreal side who lost ground in the race for a top-six finish before the break, as they suffered a disappointing defeat away at strugglers Cadiz, with Ruben Sobrino hitting the only goal of the game in injury time.

Prior to that, Unai Emery's side had put themselves in a relatively strong position after a slow start to the term, earning five victories and 16 points from a span of seven La Liga matches between late January and mid-March.

In that time, the Yellow Submarine also scored a historic European triumph, defeating Juventus 3-0 away from home in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie after a draw on home turf, as Gerard Moreno, Pau Torres and Arnaut Danjuma all got on the scoresheet in the final 15 minutes to book their place in the last eight of Europe's premier competition.

Now with their focus back on the Spanish top flight after the international break, Emery's men will look to close the three-point gap between themselves and sixth-placed Real Sociedad as they aim to again feature in continental action next season.

Team News

Levante will be missing several core players through injury, most notably winger Jorge De Frutos and defensive duo Carlos Clerc and Oscar Duarte.

The absence of De Frutos, alongside seasoned striker Roberto Soldado, will leave a lot of attacking responsibility on talismanic captain Jose Luis Morales, who has netted seven of their 31 league goals this season at the age of 34.

Further back, Pepelu and North Macedonia international Enis Bardhi form an exciting midfield unit that will support the Granotes' front line.

Villarreal's injury issues have eased recently, and left-back Alberto Moreno may be the only player certain to miss out at the weekend.

After both starting on the bench in the defeat to Cadiz, Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma should return to the starting XI to reform one of the league's most dangerous front lines.

Behind them, Dani Parejo will anchor the midfield alongside either Vicente Iborra, Etienne Capoue or Francis Coquelin, while Spanish international Pau Torres will be tasked with keeping things tight at the back.

Levante possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Pubill, Rober, Vezo, Caceres, Son; Malsa, Pepelu, Bardhi; Morales, Roger

Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Foyth, Mandi, Torres, Alfonso; Chukwueze, Parejo, Capoue, Pino; Danjuma, Moreno

We say: Levante 0-2 Villarreal

Levante should come into each of their last nine games with a real desire for points, but we do not see them having enough to take anything from the Yellow Submarine.

Rested and rejuvenated, and with their sights set on the top six, Emery's men will fancy their chances against the basement side, given the quality that Villarreal possess throughout the pitch.

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