Espanyol vs Levante Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Both Espanyol and Levante spent the back end of last season in a relegation fight - but they were two very different actors in that scenario.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / USA – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so any game may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Player / USA – ESPN+
Espanyol preview: Sticking by Manolo Gonzalez
Sharing an ownership with Burnley, Espanyol are now the priority for the group with The Clarets now in the Championship with Burnley supporters heavily critical of the running of the club and that is something that supporters of the Catalan club should be wary of as time goes on.
Espanyol were ambitious at the start of last season and spent the first half of the campaign competing for the top five and the UEFA Champions League spots before a disastrous 2026 saw them drawn into a relegation battle and narrowly survive the drop on the final day of the campaign back in May.
Levante preview: Entertaining and effective
Following their promotion to the top-flight in the 2024-25 campaign, Levante managed to eventually steer themselves clear of danger with an extremely impressive few months following the appointment of former Dunkerque and Nantes boss Luis Castro.
At Dunkerque, Luis Castro did a good job as they reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France and the Ligue 2 play-offs, leading to his appointment at Nantes. Nantes did not benefit from his presence, albeit they had been circling the drain for a while and only got worse after his departure, and Levante will be curious about what his and their ceiling may well be. They have lost key attacker Carlos Espi to Real Madrid over the summer.
Espanyol team news: Attacking injuries
Javi Puado has remained sidelined throughout the summer after missing the entirety of last year due to an ACL injury and now fellow attacker Kike is also unavailable for their opener due to a hamstring issue.
Predicted XI (4-5-1): Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Riedel, Leandro Cabrera, Hartman; Jofre Carreras, Gabriel Moscardo, Urko Gonzalez de Zarate, Pol Lozan, Dolan; Roberto Fernandez
Unavailable: Javi Puado (Injured), Kike (Injured)
Questionable:
Levante team news: Brugui suspended
Having been sent off at the back end of last season, key creative midfielder Brugui begins this season suspended, proving to be a bit of an early headache for Luis Castro.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Toljan, Dela, Mandi, Manu Sanchez; Jon Olasagasti, Bardelli; Carlos Alvarez, Hugo Sotelo, Musuayi; Ivan Romero
Unavailable: Brugui (Suspended)
Questionable: Alex Primo (Injured)
Espanyol vs Levante prediction
Despite a historically poor few months, Espanyol have persisted with Manolo Gonzalez. Any lingering frailties of the Catalans will be exposed here against a Levante side that will be confident of kicking on this season, especially with some fairly impressive business done in the summer transfer window and so siding with the Valencians would be the way to go for this one at the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona.
Espanyol vs Levante tip: Double chance - Levante to win or draw
