Racing Santander host Valencia with both sides seeking consistency
Racing Santander will host Valencia at the Estadio El Sardinero on 11 October as La Liga reaches its eighth matchday, a fixture that brings together two sides whose recent results have been far from steady.
Racing arrive on the back of a mixed run of two wins and three defeats in their last five, including a victory in their most recent outing, while Valencia have managed only a single win across their last five matches, losing four of them.
Recent form in focus
The head-to-head form over this stretch slightly favours the home side, with Racing Santander picking up two wins compared to Valencia's one in the matches used to measure their recent output. Neither club, though, has shown the kind of run that would make them obvious favourites heading into this meeting.
Valencia's difficulties have been more pronounced, with four defeats in five outings underlining the scale of the challenge they face on the road at El Sardinero.
A long-standing fixture
The two sides have not met in La Liga since the early part of the last decade, when their four previous encounters produced two Valencia wins and two draws. Valencia won 4-3 in August 2011 and 1-0 in September 2010, while the sides shared the points in January 2011 and again in January 2012 when they drew 2-2.
With history offering little in the way of recent reference points, both teams will instead be focused on using this fixture to build some much-needed momentum as the season progresses.