Espanyol and Levante begin their La Liga campaign on August 16, 2026 after both endured difficult periods during the previous season. The Catalan club followed an excellent first half of the campaign with an inconsistent second, eventually securing safety in the penultimate round after going 18 matches without a victory. Levante completed a remarkable recovery to preserve their status on the final matchday. Survival is again presented as the principal objective for both teams, although Espanyol enter the fixture with home advantage and sit 10th in the listed La Liga ranking, while Levante are 15th. Their most recent head-to-head meeting finished 0-0 on April 27, 2026, setting the scene for another potentially competitive encounter.

Espanyol Recent Form and Key Statistics

Espanyol closed the previous season by collecting seven points from a possible nine, giving the squad a positive platform before its summer preparations. Their six friendly matches produced two victories, three draws and one defeat. The campaign began with convincing wins over Olot, 3-0, and Pau FC, 4-0. Three successive draws followed against Sabadell, Burnley and Middlesbrough, with the scorelines progressing from 1-1 to 2-2 and then 3-3. Their final warm-up ended in a 3-1 loss to Coventry City on August 8, 2026.

Across Espanyol’s latest five matches, the record stands at one win, three draws and one defeat. They averaged 2.2 goals scored and 1.8 conceded during that sequence, figures which underline both their attacking output and the room for improvement without the ball. Only two of their last ten La Liga matches ended without a goal, while seven of their last ten matches went over 2.5 goals and seven featured both teams scoring.

The club has confirmed four additions. Álex Calatrava arrived after recording 15 goals and eight assists for Castellón in 2025/26, while Quilindschy, Unai Núñez and Gabriel Moscardó joined on loan. Summer scoring was spread throughout the squad, with eight different Espanyol players finding the net. Marcos Fernández led that friendly output with three goals after returning from a loan spell at Ceuta in which he scored 14 times. Roberto Fernández added two preseason goals and is expected to carry greater attacking responsibility because of Kike García’s serious injury. Puado is also unavailable.

Levante Recent Form and Key Statistics

Levante produced the stronger set of preseason results, winning four and losing two of their six fixtures. They opened with a 2-1 success against Leganés before losing 2-1 to Sheffield United. Victories over Al Qadsiah and Albacete followed, both by one-goal margins, before a 1-0 defeat against Villarreal. Their preparation concluded positively with a 3-1 victory over Castellón on August 8, 2026.

The visitors have registered three wins and two defeats across their last five matches, averaging 1.4 goals scored and 1.0 conceded. Their second-half trend is particularly notable: over 0.5 goals were recorded after the interval in 21 of Levante’s last 23 matches, including 21 of their last 23 La Liga games. As with Espanyol, seven of their latest ten fixtures finished over 2.5 goals and seven saw both teams score.

Levante have been active in reshaping their squad, completing eight additions, four of them on loan. Manu Sánchez returned to reinforce the defense, while Hugo Sotelo and Dani Requena joined the midfield options and Thiago Fernández arrived for the wing. Ryan, Mandi and Bardeli signed as free agents, with Musuayi representing the only transfer. The attack must adapt following Carlos Espí’s move to Real Madrid after his productive second half of the 2025/26 season.

Iván Romero and Etta Eyong scored three preseason goals between them, while Roger Brugé contributed twice. However, Brugé will miss the opening round because of a suspension carried over from 2025/26. Musuayi, a 19-year-old forward, provides another option as Levante attempt to compensate for Espí’s departure.

Espanyol vs Levante Match Analysis

The two sides approach this opening fixture with similar long-term priorities but contrasting immediate momentum. Espanyol’s preseason contained several high-scoring draws and ended with defeat, whereas Levante won four of six friendlies and finished by scoring three times against Castellón. The home team nevertheless closed the previous competitive campaign strongly and have won two of their last three home meetings with Levante.

The broader head-to-head summary also favors Espanyol, who have two wins, three draws and no defeats across the five meetings covered by the supplied record. Their averages in those games are 1.6 goals scored and 0.8 conceded. However, the latest encounter produced a goalless draw, showing that the historical edge does not guarantee an open or one-sided match.

Espanyol may look to use their home status and varied summer scoring sources to take the initiative. Levante arrive with a better recent win-loss record and a consistent pattern of second-half goals, so remaining competitive after the interval could be important. With both teams rebuilding after demanding campaigns and aiming first to secure their La Liga status, the contest brings together Espanyol’s favorable head-to-head sequence and Levante’s encouraging preparation.

Probable Lineups: Espanyol vs Levante

Espanyol: Dmitrovic; Cabrera, Unai Núñez, El Hilali, Quilindschy; Urko, Edu Expósito; Calatrava, Dolan, Pere Milla; Roberto Fernández.
Levante: Ryan; De la Fuente, Mandi, Toljan, Manu Sánchez; Hugo Sotelo, Bardeli, Olasagasti; Cortés, Carlos Álvarez, Ivan Romero.