The club’s poor start has frustrated manager Gennaro Gattuso, who was especially unhappy with his team’s second-half display against Atletico Madrid.
Valencia
Valencia have started their LaLiga campaign slowly, so will hope to sign veteran Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani can give them added impetus. He won’t have to do too much to enliven things, though, as each of those matches produced a single goal, evidence perhaps of them already missing the creativity of Goncalo Guedes, sold to Wolves last month. That poor start has frustrated manager Gennaro Gattuso, who was especially unhappy with his team’s second-half display against Atletico Madrid, saying, “I don’t like that the team doesn’t last until the end…we have to hold out until 90.” It might not be something he can fix quickly, though, as last term Valencia conceded 13 (54 per cent) out of 24 LaLiga goals here after the hour-mark.
Getafe
Getafe are hardly primed to take full advantage, as, like Valencia, they’ve scored just once this season, although that did come after the break. However, with just one point on the board, another season of battling for LaLiga survival could be on the cards. Although they’re a point better off than they were after three games last term, worryingly, they’ve already conceded two more goals. Having done late transfer window business to bring in strikers Munir El Haddadi and Juanmi Latasa, Getafe will hope they can provide the goals to improve a shocking run of just one win across their last 23 LL away games. Scoring here, where they’ve been winless since April 2018, would be the ideal way for them to start.
New Valencia signing Cavani netted on his first home league appearance for Palermo, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain. At the same time, Enes Unal scored Getafe’s only goal in each of their last two LaLiga away fixtures. The away team on the day hasn’t struck before half-time in any of the last five H2Hs.