I can’t see Rayo Vallecano as the favorite here.

After a strong start to the season, where they overperformed a lot, Rayo is now showing their real level, which is among the teams fighting for relegation. However, they are fortunate this season because there are some teams that are terrible and averaging very few points per game, especially Almeria and Granada.

Rayo Vallecano has won only four games this season so far: against bottom-dwelling Almeria and second-from-bottom (and newly promoted) Granada, both in the first two rounds; against another newly promoted team (Alaves); and a very lucky game against Las Palmas (also newly promoted) where Las Palmas missed a penalty, and Rayo scored the winning goal (0:1) from a penalty at 93’. So the three newly promoted teams and the penultimate classified Granada.

In the last 12 games, they have won only one game (Las Palmas), showing poor performances. Their home record is 1 win, 5 draws, and 2 losses.

The team has a problem upfront as they lack goals. Their strikers are in really poor form, their top scorer is a winger, and they are scoreless in the last three games. They have one of the worst attacks in the league, with only 16 goals scored so far - 8 of them from set pieces (5 penalties).

Defensively, they have the 4th worst defense according to their expected goals against.

However, they are still seven points above relegation and will need just around 18 points more to avoid relegation, so they are in a very comfortable position without pressure.

On the other hand, Valencia is in a similar situation. They have a very young and irregular squad but are doing very well. They are 10th in the table with the same points as Rayo, but I see them as a much more competitive team.

They achieved a draw over the weekend against Barcelona, so they are full of confidence. As they have a young team, they have a lot of pace and no need for rotations, so they will be in good form to play this midweek game.

Lately, they have lost only against strong teams from the top positions, such as Girona, Madrid, Betis, Real Sociedad, or an unlucky game against Getafe (1:0) where they received a red card at 50’ and conceded the goal at 88’.

I see this game as a very tight one. I’m not expecting too much action, as I think that both teams will be conservative and try to avoid a crazy box-to-box game. However, as both teams have been delivering very similar performances, have a similar level, and are in the same position, a draw is very possible.

我觉得巴列卡诺不是最受欢迎的。

在本赛季的强势开局之后，他们表现得非常出色，现在他们正在展示自己的真实水平，这是一支为保级而战的球队。然而，他们本赛季很幸运，因为有一些球队表现糟糕，场均得分很少，尤其是阿尔梅里亚和格拉纳达。

本赛季到目前为止，巴列卡诺只赢了四场比赛:对阵排名垫底的阿尔梅里亚和排名倒数第二的格拉纳达，都是在前两轮;对阵另一支新提升的球队(阿拉维斯);在与拉斯帕尔马斯(也是新升官的球队)的比赛中，拉斯帕尔马斯罚丢了一个点球，在93分钟时，雷约罚进了一个致胜球(0:1)。三支新晋级的球队和倒数第二名的格拉纳达。

在最近的12场比赛中，他们只赢了一场(拉斯帕尔马斯)，表现不佳。他们的主场战绩是1胜5平2负。

球队前面有一个问题，他们缺少目标。他们的前锋状态很差，他们的头号射手是一名边锋，而且他们在最近三场比赛中一球未进。他们的进攻是联赛中最糟糕的，到目前为止只进了16个球，其中8个来自定位球(5个点球)。

防守方面，根据他们的预期进球，他们的防守是第四差的。

然而，他们仍然比保级高7分，而且还需要18分左右才能保级，所以他们处于一个没有压力的非常舒适的位置。

另一方面，瓦伦西亚也处于类似的情况。他们的阵容很年轻，很不稳定，但他们做得很好。他们在积分榜上排名第十，积分和雷诺一样，但我认为他们是一支更有竞争力的球队。

他们在周末战平了巴塞罗那，所以他们充满了信心。由于他们是一支年轻的球队，他们的速度很快，不需要轮换，所以他们会以良好的状态打这场周中比赛。

最近，他们只输过一些排名靠前的强队，比如赫罗纳、马德里、贝蒂斯、皇家社会，或者是在对阵赫塔菲(1:0)的不幸比赛中，他们在50分吃了一张红牌，在88分丢了一个球。

我认为这场比赛势均力敌。我不期望有太多的动作，因为我认为两支球队都会很保守，尽量避免疯狂的一对一比赛。然而，由于两支球队的表现非常相似，水平相似，并且处于相同的位置，平局是很有可能的。