Elche CF and Valencia CF named their confirmed lineups on Sunday for their Jornada 11 meeting at the Martínez Valero, with both sides carrying very different needs into the match. Elche went in with almost the full squad available, while Valencia arrived with a long list of absences and no win in four league games.
For Elche, Marc Aguado was the only confirmed absence, still recovering from an ankle injury. That left Martín Anselmi with room to choose a side built around Dituro, Sangaré, Redondo, Chust, Revivo, Morcillo, Gonzalo Villar, Cepeda, Lemar, Germán Valera and Fer Niño, with Fer’s place linked to how his back felt before kickoff.
That detail mattered because Elche had gone four consecutive league games without losing, and this was the sort of match where continuity counted as much as form. The structure of the team suggested a side set up to keep the ball moving through the middle and use the wide players to stretch Valencia, while Fer’s fitness remained the one selection point that could still change the picture.
Valencia’s list told a different story. Javier Aguirre brought back Umar Sadiq and Dimitri Foulquier, but Harvey Elliott was out through suspension and David Otorbi, Kayne Van Oevelen, Diego López and Sergi Canós were unavailable because of physical problems. José Copete was also left out by technical decision after recovering from injury, a reminder that the squad had pieces back but still was not complete.
Aguirre had only two draws and one defeat since taking over, and Valencia were in relegation places when the lineups were released. Their starting eleven — Dimitrievski, Arnau, Tárrega, Pepelu, Gayà, Mafeo, Guido Rodríguez, Mayol, Luis Rioja, Javi Guerra and Danjuma — showed a team trying to steady itself without much margin for error. The contrast was plain: Elche were defending their best run of the season, while Valencia were trying to stop the slide before the table hardened around them.
The next question was not who was available anymore; it was whether Valencia’s returning names could change the rhythm once the match began, and whether Elche’s unbeaten stretch would survive a contest that had already been shaped by absences, recoveries and pressure on both benches.
