Matchday 15 - Featured Preview: Valencia vs Osasuna

Villarreal and Espanyol both lost at the weekend so Valencia have an inviting opportunity to close the gap on the top four when they host Osasuna at Mestalla on Monday night. The relationship between Los Che manager Unai Emery and Osasuna boss Jose Antonio Camacho is decidedly frosty so both misters will be desperate to get one over on the other. While Valencia concerns themselves with European qualification, Osasuna's priorities are altogether more sobering. The Pamplonas sit just two points above the relegation zone with two league matches remaining (including this one) before the brief winter break.

VALENCIA

Player to Watch: Pablo Hernandez

Valencia concluded a difficult few days with a satisfactory 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford in midweek. Pablo Hernandez's opening goal did give Unai Emery some hope that his team would beat the Red Devils and overhaul them at the top of their Champions League group to earn a seeded place in the last-16 draw later this month. In the end it was not to be, although 1-1 in Manchester represents a much better result than the 2-0 league defeat to Real Madrid last Saturday. Emery will be hoping for a return to normality with a victory over Osasuna on Monday night. Los Che are DWWLD in their last five matches and they are now playing catch up with the top four. They currently reside 5th but Espanyol are four points above them in the last Champions League spot. Valencia beat Osasuna home and away in the league last season, triumphing 3-0 when they met at Mestalla.

Emery tends to save the 4-4-2 formation, which includes both Roberto Soldado and Aritz Aduriz, for the games against the so-called "smaller" clubs so we can expect to see both on Monday. Joaquin, Mehmet Topal, Bruno Saltor and Vicente are hoping to return after being left out in midweek. Joaquin's return could be blocked by Pablo Hernandez's key role in the Man Utd draw as he and Juan Mata could occupy the wide roles. Having said that, Emery has a deep squad and he likes to chop and change. Miguel Angel Moya is still injured and Tino Costa and David Albelda (two matches) have both been handed bans by the federation. With those latter two out and Manuel Fernandes overlooked yet again, Mehmet Topal, Hedwiges Maduro and Ever Banega will compete for central midfield berths. Marius Stankevicius was not eligible in Europe but is available again to compete in a competitive back line where every position is covered by at least two experienced players thanks to the return of captain David Navarro after a couple of games out through injury. Vicente Guaita was another of the heroes on Tuesday and he could be rewarded by keeping his place ahead of Cesar.

Possible starting XI: (4-4-2) Vicente Guaita; Jeremy Mathieu, David Navarro, Ricardo Costa, Luis Miguel; Ever Banega, Hedwiges Maduro, Pablo Hernandez, Juanma Mata; Roberto Soldado, Aritz Aduriz;

OSASUNA

Player to Watch: Walter Pandiani

Osasuna have had a tough run of games and there will be no let up on Monday night when they visit Valencia at Mestalla. The Pamplonans were at the centre of a travel storm on matchday fourteen as Barcelona initially refused to drive to Navarre by bus on the day of the game. Barca eventually conceded and they came to the Reyno de Navarra and soundly defeated Osasuna 0-3. That took Jose Antonio Camacho's team to LLWLL in their last five matches in all competitions and dropped them to 13th in the league table. As if arriving at Mestalla in troublesome form wasn't enough, Osasuna carry the unfortunate antecedent of having lost home and away to Valencia during the 2009-10 season, including a 3-0 defeat when they met on the east coast.

Javier Camunas had to come off last week against Barcelona and the diagnosis was fairly upsetting: a hamstring injury will keep one of Camacho's key players on the sidelines for up to six weeks, thus ruling him out until 2011. He joins Ruper and Damia Abella on the definite injury list and a knock picked up this week by Krisztian Vadocz also puts his participation on Monday in doubt. Javier Calleja is still carrying a slight problem from the week prior. There was some positive news for Camacho, however, as Nacho Monreal has passed all his medical tests and has been able to train normally after a minor muscular scare. Even better is the news that Carlos Aranda could be set for a return very soon. The former Numancia striker has been out for a few weeks but he resumed full training in the build-up to this game. For the last couple of games, Camacho has started with five attacking midfielders and no recognised strikers but at Mestalla we can expect at least one, if not two, forwards from the outset as Walter Pandiani and Carlos Aranda hope to complete their comebacks. In defence, Nelson is likely to start again at right back next to Sergio Fernandes, Miguel Flano and Nacho Monreal due to the absence of Damia.

Possible starting XI: (4-2-3-1) Ricardo; Nacho Monreal, Sergio Fernandez, Miguel Flano, Nelson; Patxi Punal, Javad Nekounam; Masoud Shojaei, Fernando Soriano, Juanfran Torres; Walter Pandiani;