Granada vs. Valencia 8/21/21 LaLiga Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Granada is hosting Valencia at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes in round 2 of the Spanish LaLiga. Granada is in solid form, and they are undefeated in their last 4 games, including their season opener. Valencia has also been in fantastic form, and if their season can be judged by their season opener, Valencia will have a good time this season.

Granada has lost only 1 of their 6 preseason games, while winning their last 3 straight in the preseason, but they were not able to beat Villarreal last week. Granada has had only 39% of ball possession in that match, 1 shot on goal, 2 corner kicks, 0 big chances created, and 75% of the correct passes. As I’ve mentioned in the previous article, this was a rough game, but Granada was defending well, and they deserved a point they got from this game. Lozano is the only injured player for Granada, while Eteki is still questionable. Granada is one of those teams that is focused on defense rather than offense, and it has been working well for them, but if they want to go to Europe, they will need more goals.

Valencia has scored 16 goals in their preseason, but they have also been conceding a lot of goals. Valencia has won their season opener against Getafe at home, but they weren’t playing well. Valencia has had only 26% of ball possession, 2 shots on goal, 1 corner kick, 3 big chances created, and only 64% of the correct passes. After conceding a red card in the 3^rd minute, Valencia was awarded a penalty kick in the 11^th minute, which they turned into a goal. In the 76^th minute, Getafe has conceded a red card, and Valencia was able to hold onto their lead. This was also a rough game in which we saw a ton of fouls, 9 yellow cards, and 2 red cards. Guillamon is now suspended because of that red card, while Piccini and Musah are injured. Domenech and Cillessen are both still questionable. Valencia has shown a lot of resilience so far, they were focused, but I’m not sure they will be able to do that consistently this season with the way they are playing. Valencia will need more offense, but I’m not sure they have it.

Granada has not lost to Valencia in their last 3 home games, while they haven’t lost any of their last 6 games overall. Valencia hasn’t won any of their last 12 away games in a row. I think this will be another tough game, but I don’t think either team has the edge, and for that reason, I will take the draw in this one.