Malaga and Valencia will be keen to pick up all three points after disappointing defeats, when the two sides clash in the La Liga on Friday night.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for a 9 pm local time (1.30 am IST) start with live coverage on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD2 in India. The match can also be watched via live streaming HERE. Viewers in the US can live stream the match HERE, while Latin America viewers can do the same HERE. UK viewers can catch the action live online HERE.
Valencia suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo last weekend, before being knocked out of the Copa Del Rey by Atletico Madrid.
Those two defeats have tempered the high following the arrival of Juan Antonio Pizzi a little and the new manager knows the importance of getting back to winning ways as soon as possible.
"I don't think it's appropriate to distract ourselves with what we did at the Calderon [in the loss to Atletico]," Pizzi said. "What matters most for us is the game against Malaga."
"We're getting things stable. That's our reality. Changes will take as long as is needed. I don't believe it's possible to go from being in a complicated situation, to suddenly being the best team in Europe. We believe in our way of working, though it's always better with good results."
Pizzi said the loss of Jeremy Mathieu to injury was a major factor in Valencia losing control against Celta, despite taking the lead. "We lacked the physical and mental strength to get over the injury of Mathieu and the goal we conceded early in the second half," he said. "That's why we were overcome, for the first time since I've been here, by an opponent like Celta. We're working to correct that."
Malaga are only three points behind seventh-placed Valencia at the moment, but six places adrift in a congested La Liga mid-table, and manager Bernd Schuster will know a victory at the La Rosaleda and the team can start to look upwards rather than behind their shoulders.
"We're fully aware that Valencia are a quality side, and under normal circumstances they should be in top five positions in the table," Schuster said on Thursday. "Following the change of coach they've started to show a good rhythm on the pitch, and put on a quality performance against Atletico Madrid.
"This game will be a tough one for us, going by what they've achieved in such a short time. Rhythm and intensity will be crucial tomorrow."
Malaga also went down in their previous La Liga game, a 1-0 loss to Levante, which Schuster believes should never have happened, even if he is relatively satisfied with his side's performance after the conclusion of the first half of the season.
"We should never have lost a match like that, and should have at least come away with a draw," the German said. "We really stepped up our attack in the final part of the match, but we need to be more focused in the moment, as the small details can determine the winner.
"We've definitely shown a great improvement from a footballing point of view. I think we let five or six points escape too easily along the way, but these things happen in football."
