Valencia vs Getafe Prediction: Card for Davinchi as Los Ches eye renaissance

Despite off-field issues, with the club enduring financial challenges, Getafe have made a perfect start to the new La Liga season, following up a 2-0 victory at Celta Vigo with a 2-1 win at Sevilla on Monday. Next up for Los Azulones is a Friday night (20:30 BST, Premier Sports 1) trip to the Estadio de Mestalla, where Valencia, who have only picked up a solitary point from their first two games, lie in wait.

Below are my Valencia vs Getafe predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Jose Gaya is suspended for Valencia after his red card against Osasuna last Sunday; Jesus Vazquez, who was brought on shortly after Gaya was ordered from the field, appears to be his most likely replacement at left-back.

Football Odds

Sergi Canos (groin), Thierry Correia (knee) and Alberto Mari (muscle) are all out with injuries, while midfielder Hugo Guillamon left for Croatian club Hadjuk Split earlier this week.

Summer signings Alex Sancris, Abdel Abqar, Yvan Neyou, Kiko Femenia, Javi Munoz and Juanmi are all yet to be registered by Getafe, so as things stand, they will all miss out again on Friday.

Juanmi (knee) is ruled out again, but Kiko Femenia, who hasn't featured since a goalless pre-season friendly with Hull City on August 2, is back in training, although the 34-year-old full-back remains a doubt, with a return after the September international break looking more likely.

Today's Football Fixtures

Christantus Uche starred for Jose Bordalas' side on the opening weekend, scoring their second against Celta Vigo, and he continues to be linked with a move away. However, despite reports that the Nigerian was headed for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, he remains in Spain and looks likely to start against Valencia.

Valencia vs Getafe Odds

Valencia are unbeaten against Getafe in their last eight matches at the Mestalla, winning twice since the start of last year, and Los Che are 6/5 to beat the Madrid club on Friday and pick up their first victory of the season, implying a 45.5% probability of success. The visitors are 11/4, or a 26.7% chance, to record a first win at the Mestalla since April 2018, while a draw can be backed at 2/1.

Valencia striker Hugo Duro, who struck 11 times in La Liga last season, heads the anytime goalscorer market at 15/8, with Borja Mayoral, yet to make an appearance this term, first up for Getafe at 3/1; Uche is further down the list at 4/1.

Total Goals - Under 1.5 @ 5/4

Scoring goals wasn't really an issue for Valencia in La Liga last season, with only Girona (also 44) netting as many in the bottom 10.

However, after two games this term, they've only struck once, in an opening weekend 1-1 home draw with Real Sociedad. Last time out, they were beaten 1-0 at Osasuna, although Gaya's 22nd-minute dismissal hamstrung their attempts at staging a recovery.

Still, dating back to last season and mid-May, that's now three blanks in their last five competitive matches, with under 2.5 total goals a winning selection in all five, and eight of their last 10, while under 1.5 has landed in two of their last five.

Getafe, meanwhile, were involved in a league-low 73 goals last season (34 for, 39 against). Only bottom club Real Valladolid (26) scored fewer times, but only three sides - Athletic Club (29), Atletico Madrid (30) and Real Madrid (38) - conceded fewer.

Their strong defence has been on show for all to see already this season, with a clean sheet in Vigo followed up by just one goal conceded in Sevilla - and that was from one of their defenders, Juan Iglesias, who put through his own net at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Under 2.5 total goals has landed in six of Getafe's last nine competitive contests, and has been a winning selection in four of the last five head-to-heads. Valencia won 3-0 at the Mestalla in May, but while they were still pushing for Europe, the visitors had little to play for, with survival all but assured, and a tilt for the top eight unlikely.

There was also a big win for Valencia (5-1) at the Mestalla against Getafe in September 2022, but Quique Sanchez Flores, rather than Bordalas, was in charge for that chastening defeat, and the current boss has a 6-4-4 record against the club he managed in the 2021/22 season.

Under 1.5 goals has been a winner in three of Getafe's last nine, and five of the last eight head-to-heads between them and Valencia.

Player to Receive a Card - David 'Davinchi' Cordon Mancha (GET) @ 13/8

With Getafe's inability to register a raft of new players, opportunities have been presented to several youngsters, including 17-year-old left-back Davinchi, who has started Los Azulones' first two games of the season after only joining from Recreativo de Huelva in July.

The Spaniard, who made 32 appearances (23 starts) in the Primera Federacion last season, averaged 1.5 fouls per game in Spanish football's third tier, picking up a whopping 11 yellow cards.

He's already committed five fouls in La Liga, one against Celta Vigo and four against Sevilla, but has so far escaped without a card to his name, although he has already been booked for Getafe this month, in a 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat to Lyon on August 9.

On Friday, Davinchi could be in close contact with right-sided Valencia attacker Dani Raba, who joined Los Ches from relegated Leganes during the summer.

Raba was fouled, on average, 1.9 times per game in La Liga last season, and was upended once in his debut for Valencia against Real Sociedad, before suffering an early substitution against Osasuna due to Gaya's red card.

The 29-year-old will fancy his chances up against an unproven youngster on Friday, and you can be sure he will be looking to run at him as often as possible.

Davinchi has shown himself to be rash in his fledgling career, marking him out as a potential candidate to go into the referee's notebook at the Mestalla.

Offers

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