La Liga 2 Playoff Final Leg 1: Alaves vs Levante Preview

Alaves Host First Leg of Playoff Final

Both Sides On Cusp of Expedited La Liga Return

Levante and Alaves both nearly missed out on automatic promotion back to La Liga after a season in the second tier. Now, they’ll face off in the La Liga 2 Playoff Final, with the first leg on Sunday. The aggregate winner over the two legs will return to La Liga for the 2023-24 season while the loser will remain in the second division. Alaves, who will host the first leg, eliminated Eibar in the playoff semifinal. Meanwhile, Levante comfortably defeated Albacete in both legs of the semis. Let’s take a closer look at Sunday’s match and some of the key odds.

La Liga 2 Playoff Final

Alaves vs Levante

Date, time:
Location: Estadio de Mendizorroza, Vitoria, Spain

Head-to-Head

Alaves and Levante met twice on the La Liga 2 schedule this season. Levante came away with a season sweep as they won both meetings 2-0. In the 2021-22 season, both teams participated in La Liga and they split their meetings. Levante have won the last three head-to-head matchups and Alaves have just one win in the last six.

Alaves Nearly Unstoppable at Home

  • Semifinal Result: 3-1 agg. W vs. Eibar
  • Key Absences: D Nikola Maras (Out)

Alaves have played 24 home matches in all competitions this season and lost just two. One of those losses came to Levante last December, the other was to Europa League champions Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. Following a 1-1 draw at Eibar in the first leg of the Playoff Semifinal, Alaves got a 2-0 home win to advance to the final.

Abde Rebbach scored within a minute and Asier Villalibre added a late insurance goal. Alaves have conceded more than one goal at home just twice all season.

Last season, Alaves finished last in La Liga but they had a strong first season in the second tier. Alaves went 19-14-9, which was good enough for fourth place in the league. In fact, they were just two points away from automatic promotion.

Now, their route to promotion involves winning this La Liga 2 Playoff Final. Their main scoring outlet this season has been Luis Rioja.

Rioja ranked joint-seventh in La Liga 2 with 10 goals and also added four assists. No other Alaves player has found the net more than five times this season.

Mamadou Sylla ranks first on the team with 0.44 goals per 90 minutes and he is expected to start up top. Rioja should start on the right wing. Alaves conceded 65 goals in 38 La Liga games last season but they’ve had one of the best defenses in La Liga 2 this season.

Including their playoff matches, Alaves have allowed just 34 goals in 44 matches. Still, Thursday’s win over Eibar marked their first home shutout since April.

Levante Blow Albacete Out of the Water

  • Semifinal Result: 6-1 agg. W vs. Albacete
  • Key Absences: M Pablo Martinez (Out), M Jose Campaña (Out)

Valencia-based club Levante finished in third place in their first season back in the second tier. In 2021-22 they got relegated after finishing in 19th place in the La Liga standings. Along with Las Palmas, Levante had the fewest losses in the league.

They’ve been excellent on the road, with just three losses all season. Plus, only Las Palmas conceded fewer goals than Levante this season. Levante keeper Cardenas conceded the fewest goals per 90 minutes in the league this season, at just 0.62. However, he just returned from an injury ahead of the semifinal first leg.

Even so, Joan Femenias started in goal in both matches vs. Albacete.Femenias has made 12 appearances this season, in all competitions, and has conceded 12 goals.

Levante managed to put three goals on Albacete in both legs and came away with a 6-1 aggregate win. Over their last four matches, Levante have scored 11 goals. That’s more than they scored in the previous 14 matches combined.

Left midfielder Jorge de Frutos has scored three times in the last three matches. Roger Brugue also scored a brace in the second leg vs. Albacete.

Leading scorer Mohamed Bouldini also finished in eighth place in La Liga 2, with 0.36 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes. While all of their forwards are available, midfielders Jose Campaña and Pablo Martinez are out for this match. They made a combined 38 starts during the season.

Match Analysis and Odds

It was no insignificant feat for Levante to pull off the regular season sweep over Alaves. Now, in the first leg of the La Liga 2 Playoff Final, Alaves are looking for their first goal vs. Levante this season.

Notably, neither Alavés nor Levante scored much during the regular season as both sides averaged just over one goal per game. Still, Levante have been pouring in the goals over their last few matches and it’ll be interesting to see if it continues.

In any case, home side Alaves are +160 moneyline favorites for the match. In what is listed as a pick’em, Levante show +180 moneyline odds and a draw sits at +190.

An important factor here is the status of Levante’s Cardenas. His stats show that he’s made a bigger impact than backup keeper Joan Femenias this season but Cardenas is yet to regain his starting role post-injury.

Regardless, the over/under total for the match is listed as an incredibly low 1.5 goals. The over stands at -205 odds, while the under sits at -155 odds.

Recall that both settings this season have finished 2-0 in favor of Levante. In fact, the last six meetings between these teams have finished with two or more goals.

A “No” bet on Both Teams to Score is priced at -140 odds as well. The name of the game for Levante is going back to Valencia for the second leg without a defeat. Even a draw would be a solid result for the Granotas.

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