Levante vs Elche Prediction: The home side can open the scoring

| Friday 23rd January 2026, 6:15am

Friday 23rd January 2026, 6:15am

Our Spanish tipster enjoyed a good Champions League midweek with three winning bets from four to put him in some good form. The first of four La Liga previews from him comes from the Friday night match where Levante face Elche, live on Premier Sports from 20:00.

Mark brings us the Team News, Match Odds and his two Best Bets for the match. Let's check out his Levante vs Elche Predictions here on Betfred Insights...

Levante vs Elche Betting Tips

Levante to score first @ 10/11
Levante or Draw & Over 1.5 goals @ 5/6 via Bet Builder

*odds correct at time of publication

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*You can check out all the Football Odds and markets on offer with us over at betfred.com

Match Preview:

Two clubs who were promoted to La Liga in 2025 clash at the Estadi Ciutat de València on Friday. So far, it's Elche who have adjusted better to life in the top flight than Levante.

Despite pipping their opponents to last season's Segunda División, Levante have looked out of their depth at times at the higher level. They are yet to win a home game, something that surely has to change in the next few weeks if they're to stand any chance of beating the drop.

A poor start was enough to convince the board to dispense with the services of their promotion-winning coach, Julián Calero, in November. A permanent successor was not announced for several weeks, with ex-Nantes boss Luís Castro taking charge at the turn of the year.

It was a dream start for the Portuguese coach, who saw his new team win 3-0 at Sevilla in his opening game. They've since drawn at home to surprise package Espanyol, and been beaten 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu by Real Madrid. Castro will be happy with a four-point return from those fixtures. However, his side remain six points from safety.

The 45-year-old will be hoping top scorer Karl Etta Eyong, who has recently returned from AFCON duty, can be the inspiration for a badly needed home win on Friday. Carlos Álvarez and Iván Romero have also shown enough in attacking roles to suggest they have a future in La Liga, even if their team ultimately fails to beat the drop.

Elche should secure another season in Spain's top flight, having collected 24 points from their opening 20 fixtures. That has been enough to leave them in eighth place, which was sufficient for European qualification last term.

However, their coach Eder Sarabia won't be getting too carried away, given they are still only five points above the relegation zone in a league where there's very little to choose between at least 10 teams.

Los Franjiverdes use a back three, and play a short-passing style that many teams have found tough to counter so far this season. They rank third in La Liga for average possession (59.1%) and passing accuracy (86.8%), although they do sometimes take too long to move the ball from back to front, with their xG total of 25.0 the sixth-worst in the division, and lower than that of their latest opponents.

Elche have put in some excellent performances at home, where they've already held Real Madrid, while they claimed 4-0 and 3-0 wins over Rayo Vallecano and Girona, respectively, in December. However, it has been a different story on the road, with the side from the province of Alicante yet to pick up three points away from the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero.

Team News:

Regulars Unai Elgezabal and Roger Brugué are significant injury absentees for Levante. They also have doubts over Diego Pampín and Víctor García heading into this game. Castro is expected to stick with a 4-2-3-1 system, but he may consider recalls for the fit-again duo of Matías Moreno and Kervin Arriaga.

As for Elche, they'll still be reeling to some extent after throwing away a two-goal lead with 15 minutes left, to only draw at home to Sevilla on Monday. Centre-back Víctor Chust picked up his fifth booking of the season in that game, and will miss this match as a result.

Barcelona loanee Héctor Fort is a long-term injury absentee, while the visitors have further fitness doubts over Pedro Bigas, Rafa Mir, Álvaro Núñez, and John Donald.

Levante UD vs Elche CF Lineups (Predicted)

Levante UD: Ryan, Toljan, Dela, Matturro, Sanchez, Vencedor, Martinez, Tunde, Alvarez, Romero, Eyong
Elche CF: Pena, Josan, Chust, Affengruber, Petrot, Valera, Neto, Aguado, Febas, Diangana, Rodriguez

Match Odds:

There's little to choose between the teams in the Match Result market, with Levante the slight favourites at 6/4, while Elche are priced at 2/1. The Draw is on offer at 9/4.

You can back Both teams to score at 8/11, while the hosts are priced at 11/8 to score over 1.5 goals. Levante or Draw and Both teams to score is also available at 11/8.

Alternatively, you can back Elche to win the game to nil at 18/5. The visitors are also on offer at 5/6 to win either half.

With Mir a major fitness doubt for the away team, Etta Eyong stands out as the game's most likely scorer. The Levante striker is on offer at 9/2 to strike first, and 13/8 to score anytime.

Alternative options in the Anytime Goalscorer market include Romero at 9/5, and Álvarez at 7/2 for the hosts. You can also back Elche's Grady Diangana to get on the scoresheet at 10/3.

*You can bet on and check out all of our Elche vs Levante Odds with our full betting markets on betfred.com

Levante UD vs Elche CF Stats

Levante have the lowest possession rate in La Liga at just 41.2%. Elche are third best (59%) behind only Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Elche are one of two teams (Girona are the other) without a goal from a penalty in La Liga 25/26.
Levante are one of four clubs to have only been shown one red card this season.
Both sides are over 50% for BTTS (Elche 65%, Levante 53%)

Bet 1 - Levante to score first @ 10/11

This will be a test of character for Elche, just four days on from their late collapse against Sevilla. There is a danger they could suffer a hangover following on from that game, and they haven't started well on their travels this season, conceding five goals in the opening 15 minutes away from home in La Liga.

Levante's favourite time to score at home has also been in the opening 15 minutes. Three of their eight goals in front of their own fans have come in that time segment.

With Mir, Elche's top scorer, only likely to be used off the bench if passed fit, there is added reason to think backing Levante to score first may be the smart move here at odds of 10/11.

Bet 2 - Levante or Draw & Over 1.5 goals @ 5/6

With Levante winless at home, and Elche winless away, the logical conclusion is that this game could well end level. That may be the case, but of the two, Levante look the team more likely to claim what would be a priceless three points.

They are still experiencing something of a new-manager bounce, with an expected defeat against Real Madrid last weekend unlikely to have burst that particular bubble. A winless start to 2026 for the visitors also suggests that we may be witnessing the beginning of a slight decline as far as Los Franjiverdes are concerned.

Given there have been at least two goals in 18 of Levante's 19 league matches so far this term, I'm using the Bet Builder to back Levante or Draw and Over 1.5 goals at 5/6.

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Mark Sochon P/L 25/26 Season:

Points Staked: 146
Points Returned: 145.53
P/L: -0.53

You can check out Mark's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...