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European Football
Preview - 08 Dec 2007
Live
Scores
Osasuna vs
Valencia. Saturday 19:00
Valencia hit rock-bottom last week as they were trounced 3-0 by
Athletic Bilbao at the Mestalla. This was no freak result. Valencia
really are that bad right now. Nothing appears to have changed under
new coach Ronald Koeman. Until now, anyway. So desperate is the
Dutchman to find some kind of spark, he is preparing to ditch the
classic 4-4-2 formation for a 4-3-3. This appears to be a strange
move. 4-4-2 suits Valencia perfectly, considering they simply don't
possess a central playmaker. David Silva is the only player who
could possibly perform this role, but Koeman favours using him
further forward or on the left. It's hard to imagine where Fernando
Morientes or Joaquin would fit into this new system, or where the
creative spark will come from. Unless it's not actually a 4-3-3. The
ailing los ches defence needs more protection, so expect to see an
even more negative Valencia than usual, with the supposed 4-3-3
looking more like a 4-5-1, with Joaquin and Silva still out wide but
with one less striker to hit.
Osasuna are showing signs of life after a poor start to the
season. A good win in Coruna last week was followed by a creditable
midweek draw with Sevilla. It really should have been more though,
as Francisco Punal missed a penalty to put the Pamplona-based side
2-0 up. The main weakness for Osasuna was scoring goals, as summer
signings Portillo and Pandiani failed to fire. However Portuguese
striker Dady has stepped up to the mark in recent weeks, ably
assisted by Czech midfielder Plasil among others.
Valencia have won nine times this season, but that doesn't mask
the fact that they have been truly awful in the majority of their
games. The victories are Mallorca (two shots two goals), Recreativo,
Almeria and Schalke were completely undeserved. How this
under-performing side have accumulated 24 points this season is a
bit of a mystery. One telling statistic is Valencia's record when
falling behind. Essentially a dull, counter-attacking side, they
have huge problems when the opposition manage to grab the first
goal. In fact, in the nine games in which they have gone behind,
they have been unable to muster a response in six of them, losing
eight and winning only once.
With all that in mind, the bet has to be Osasuna to win to nil at
a generous price.
Recommendation: 2 pts Osasuna to
win to nil @ 7/2. Paddy Power.
Ilunga
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