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The pre-season is back in action with another round of matches this weekend as Valencia lock horns with Unai Emery's impressive Aston Villa side in an interesting friendly match at the Estadio de Mestalla on Saturday.
Valencia vs Aston Villa Preview
Aston Villa finished in seventh place in the Premier League standings last season and have shown marked improvement under Unai Emery. The Birmingham-based outfit played out a 3-3 draw against Brentford last week and will need to take it up a notch to win this match.
Valencia, on the other hand, secured a 16th-place finish in the La Liga table last season and have struggled over the past year. Los Che eased past Deportivo Alaves by a 2-0 margin in their previous game and will look to achieve a similar result this weekend.
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Valencia vs Aston Villa Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The only match played out between the two teams so far took place in a friendly match in August 2010 and ended in a hard-fought 0-0 stalemate, with neither side breaking the deadlock.
- Aston Villa have conceded at least one goal in each of their last six matches in the Premier League, with their previous clean sheet coming in a 3-0 victory against Newcastle United.
- Ollie Watkins was Aston Villa's most prolific player last season and bagged 15 goals and six assists in all competitions for his side.
- Aston Villa are currently unbeaten in their four friendly matches on their pre-season tour so far and have scored nine goals in these games, but have managed to win only one of them.
- Valencia ended their 2022-23 La Liga campaign on a robust note and lost only one of their last five league games of the season, but played out draws in three of these matches.
Valencia vs Aston Villa Prediction
Aston Villa have excellent players in their ranks and have grown in stature under Unai Emery so far. The likes of Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins can be lethal on their day and will look to prove their mettle this weekend.
Valencia are in the midst of a transition at the moment and are in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Aston Villa are the better team at the moment and should be able to win this game.
Prediction: Valencia 1-3 Aston Villa
Valencia vs Aston Villa Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Aston Villa
Tip 2: Game to have over 2.5 goals - Yes
Tip 3: Aston Villa to score first - Yes
Tip 4: Ollie Watkins to score - Yes
