Levante UD returns to the Ciutat de València on Saturday still looking for its first victory of the season, and its first goal. Real Betis arrives in València with two wins from two and a place near the top of the standings, which gives this 17:00 meeting an edge that goes beyond a routine early-season fixture.
For Luís Castro, the task is as practical as it is urgent: Levante must break a scoring drought that has stretched through its opening two league matches. That is why the probable selection matters. Castro is weighing a repeat of the Pamplona lineup, with Ryan behind Nacho Pérez, Dela, Mandi and Manu Sánchez, and Olasagasti, Oriol Rey, Bardeli, Brugué, Thiago and Iván Romero ahead of them. The idea is simple. Levante needs a shape that can keep its home advantage intact and finally turn possession into a goal.
The timing makes the match harder to ignore. Levante drew 0-0 at Osasuna in Pamplona in its last outing and still has not scored this season, yet it comes back to a ground where it finished last season with five consecutive home wins and had not lost at home since 18 February. That home run helped secure permanence, and it is the reason Saturday carries more weight than an ordinary league date. This is the first time the team will feel its own crowd behind it this season, and Castro knows the script has to change quickly if that support is going to matter again.
Real Betis does not arrive to help. Manuel Pellegrini's side has already beaten Real Sociedad and Valencia CF and comes into València as one of the teams in the upper part of the table. Its probable lineup, with Álvaro Valles, Bellerín, Marc Bartra, Natan, Fran García, Facundo Bernal, Marc Roca, Antony, Fornals, Riquelme and Cucho Hernández, underlines why Levante cannot wait for the match to settle into a rhythm. If the home side starts slowly again, Betis has already shown it can punish that sort of opening.
The more revealing question is not whether Levante can look stronger at home. It already did that last season. The question is whether strength in the stands can become a goal on the scoreboard before the pressure of two blank matches starts to shape the season for Castro and his team.
