Valencia's 5 best performers in the 2017/18 season

When Valencia defeated Real Betis at the Mestalla on Sunday, they made it 13 points out of their last five matches in the La Liga.

This came after a run of six straight defeats, in all competitions.

Only table toppers, Barcelona have accumulated more points at home in La Liga, this season.

Compare this to last season, when Valencia won just eight and lost seven of their home games, and it comes as no surprise that Los Che has climbed to a lofty fourth spot, just a point behind Real Madrid, in the La Liga.

After a couple of years in the mid-table wilderness, the team is back as contenders for a UCL spot.

Elsewhere, the club also did well in the Copa Del Rey, losing out narrowly to defending champions, Barcelona, in the semi-finals.

Marcelino has worked wonders in making them a tough team to beat this season.

Here, we look at five players that have propelled Valencia to great heights this season:

#5 Rodrigo Moreno (Striker, 26 appearances, 10 goals, 4 assists)

Rodrigo Moreno in action against Barcelona, in the Copa Del Rey.

With 10 goals and 4 assists in 26 appearances, Rodrigo Moreno has been one of the stars of Valencia, who has been reborn under Marcelino and is enjoying the best season of his career at the Mestalla since signing on from Benfica.

He has been ever-present for Valencia this season, going on a run of eight goals in 10 appearances, early in the season.

He has a knack for scoring late equalizers and winners and has an ability to raise his game for the big games, having scored important goals against Barcelona and in the derby against Levante.

Clearly, if Rodrigo continues to perform well until the end of the season, he has an outside chance of making it to the Spanish team for the World Cup in Russia.

#4 Goncalo Guedes (Winger, 22 appearances, 4 goals, 7 assists)

Guedes has been in fine form for Valencia, since joining on loan from PSG.

Guedes joined Valencia, on loan from PSG, in the summer, after finding limited opportunities at the Parc des Princes.

He has gone from strength to strength, scoring 4 goals and assisting 7 in his 22 appearances in La Liga this season.

Joining the club on the last day of the transfer window, it wasn’t until the end of September that Guedes made his first start for Los Che, and he has hit the ground running.

He scored his first goal a few weeks later, in a 6-3 victory at Real Betis and followed that up with inarguably the best performance of his fledgling career at the club, with two goals and an assist, including a sumptuous goal in a 4-0 thrashing of Sevilla.

No wonder then, that Valencia is desperate to make his signing a permanent one, at the end of the season, in the midst of interest from clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United.

#3 Geoffrey Kondogbia (Defensive Midfielder, 22 appearances, 2.15 successful tackles per game)

Kondogbia has been linked with a move to Liverpool at the end of the season.

Kondogbia is yet another loan signing doing well for Valencia. In his 22 appearances this season, he averages 2.15 successful tackles every 90 minutes. Having joined from Inter, he scored on his debut in a 2-2 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Besides being a rock in the centre of the Valencia midfield, Kondogbia has also impressed in attack, chipping in with four goals and two assists.

It remains to be seen whether Valencia will activate the option to buy him for €25m, with teams like Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur circling around for him.

#2 Santi Mina (Forward, 26 appearances, 11 goals, 2 assists)

Santi Mina looks to have finally arrived at Valencia.

Santi Mina is experiencing his highest scoring season to date. He is the club's joint top scorer (alongside Simone Zaza), in La Liga with 11 goals, and has also contributed 2 assists in 26 appearances. Additionally, he also scored 3 goals in the Copa Del Rey.

Until recently, Marcelino had mainly been using him as an impact substitute against tired defences. However, given his superb form, coupled with Simone Zaza’s loss of form has seen Santi move to the starting XI.

He has scored some important goals this season, including a superb brace against Real Zaragoza in the Copa Del Rey, a predator’s strike against Espanyol and the opening goal in the derby match against Levante.

#1 Dani Parejo (Central Midfielder, 25 appearances, 6 goals, 6 assists)

The Valencia captain has been their star performer in this campaign.

The captain of Valencia has been one of their best performers. With six goals and an equal number of assists in 25 appearances in La Liga, Dani Parejo boasts of a goal or assist every other game.

With a pass success percentage of 87%, consistent performances throughout the season have made him the lynchpin of the team. He is also the designated penalty taker of the team, not having missed any of his five penalties this season.

On the minus side, Parejo has the habit of picking up yellow cards, having picked up the highest number of yellow cards with 12 this season in the league.

If he improves this side of his game, he will give himself every chance of making it to the World Cup in the summer.

Marcelino has enjoyed a good start to his managerial career at the Mestalla and Valencia continue to confound critics and remain in contention for a Champions League place. It is an incredible turnaround for a club that was on the brink of relegation, midway through last season.

If these 5 players, as well as the rest of the team, continue to maintain their excellent form until the end of the season, the club will surely be a force to be reckoned with in La Liga, as well as Europe, next season.

*All stats have been taken from www.squawka.com