Valencia are on great form and we need to be on our best to get a positive result out of this one. With the way we’ve been playing and without our 2 hard fighting and experienced CB’s and N’Zonzi, a draw would be golden, but at the same time would mean that top 4 battle would be extremely hard to achieve. A win and it will miraculously keep us in the pace for the 4th. A loss… EL here we come.
Valencia is currently our direct rival for the 4th, but the next league match vs. a surprisingly in-form Leganes is also important.
Not sure what to expect regarding the formation, but one hint is that Mudo and Banega will start together as pointed by Berizzo in a press statement.
So I’d go with:
Soria (yes, let’s give him a chance, Rico needs to rest after that debacle on Wednesday)
Corchia - Mercado - Kjaer/Lenglet - Escudero
Pizarro - Banega
Mudo
Navas Correa
Muriel
Mercado needs to be fielded at CB so that he gets used to it a bit, as who knows how long will Pareja and Carrico be out, so just in case. Also neither of Kjaer/Lenglet were too convincing in the last debacle, so either of them could start, though I’d prefer Kjaer a bit more if he is 100% fit for this one, if not then Lenglet.
Escudero had a weak match vs. Spartak both defenisvely and in the attack, so if Berizzo wants to defend a bit more then put on Christmas Carole why the hell not. There should be a strict rule that whoever performs badly is out of the first team, no excuses.
Any experiment or weird decision would be understandable, however, if WBY will once again start ahead of Muriel, then Berizzo is definitely not a serious coach and will need to step out.
Good, at least reflecting on Muriel case. The formation is strong otherwise. Probably the strongest, only that Nolito is out of form but hopefully he’ll step up his game quickly.
Yeah a shame that Soria doesn’t get a start more often. Rico really needs some rest, punishing rest not that he’s tired… or if he’s tired conceding goals then yeah.
I was worried about this during the transfer window, I have never seen PIzzaro play before so I was not sure if he could step it up for Europe, from his stats in Tigres it appears he is an adept at taking the ball out of the defense and winning it with positioning but he is not a warrior, N’zonzi is decent but can let the game get to his head with high profile errors, Geis is simply unknown.
We should have not let Iborra go at least without getting a replacement, a Krycho loan would have been perfect. I miss the days when we had an embarrassment of riches in DM with Kryocho, Iborra and M’bia, getting Javi Garcia wouldn’t have been bad either.
How are we so bad with set pieces and corners? Getting to the point where I don’t expect to score and just hope they don’t end in counter attack goals.
