La Liga: Sunday Match Previews

Barcelona vs. Levante

This is a match, which has only just been given the go-ahead, that the potential players strike seems to have claimed the best part of the Spanish Press’ attention in the last few weeks, and for good reason.

The problem of course being that Drenthe has only been paid one month's wages over the last six months of playing and is running out of savings with which to pay his mortgage. While he is not a Barcelona player, this strike was set to call off all of the La Liga matches on Jan. 2. With all of the disarray around the fixture it will be interesting to see whether or not it is business as usual or whether or not the disruption will shake things up enough that Levante will actually have a shot at winning this match.

The odds will still not be in their favour by any means, after all they have had the same disruption. Still, the most likely way that this match is going to end is for a resounding win for the home side, considering the fact Barcelona’s home form is almost always impeccable and the fact that Levante aren’t exactly on sparkling form, especially when it comes to away matches.

Valencia vs Espanyol

Valencia haven’t quite been the same since the start of the season. They got off to a fantastic start but have dipped since then. They have been shifted from their customary third spot in the league and are now having to slog it out for that fourth Champions League spot.

It is certainly unlikely that they expected to be dethroned from their “best of the rest” position in Spain by Villarreal, although there are still enough games left for things to change, and drastically at that. This week’s disruption may have shaken things up a little bit and it is a wonder whether some of the players who wanted to strike will really have their hearts in the game. That will be an issue for both sides, though, and it may have perhaps caused more issues for the away team in terms of readiness to travel.

Espanyol are having a pretty good season and a fantastic one by their standards, fifth in the league is not a bad spot for any team outside of the big three in Spain and they’d probably be happy to finish there. If it weren’t for the fact that they were on level pegging with Valencia in terms of points, this match could be worth quite a lot when it comes to their chances of finishing fourth.

Joe - livescoredaily.com - live scores