Levante vs Malaga preview - Gracia wary of wounded Levante

Malaga coach Javi Gracia has warned his side against taking struggling Levante lightly on Saturday, even after beating high-flying Valencia last time out.

Monday's 1-0 win saw Malaga become the first team to beat Nuno Espirito Santo's side in eight matches, but Gracia believes Levante, who are bottom of the Primera Division and have not won a league game since November, will be even tougher opponents given their precarious situation.

"Levante are playing with the obligation to win and so if we don't work out the best way to play them, the game will be tougher than the one with Valencia," the coach told a press conference.

Although his team sit seventh in the league table with 35 points and are far closer to the European places than the relegation zone, Gracia is keen to reach 40 points and guarantee survival as soon as possible.

"We are excited about getting closer to the number of points that will give us mathematical survival," he said. "I hope in two or three games we'll be able to complete our objective of survival, and then have as many games possible to try and aspire to greater things.

"But until then we'll continue with our talk of prudence and reality and now we're thinking about Levante's need for points tomorrow, because they're going to play with a lot of hunger and we will have to match them in terms of competitiveness."

The two teams met at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium last month in the second leg of a Copa del Rey last-16 tie. Malaga lost 3-2 despite leading 2-0 at half-time, although they still qualified for the quarter finals of the tournament on aggregate.

Levante will be without midfielder Pape Diop, who has a virus, while Nabil El Zhar, Andreas Ivanschitz and Momo Sissoko miss out due to injury.

Coach Lucas Alcaraz has also chosen to leave Rafael Martins, Nikos Karabelas, Issam El Adoua and Pedro Lopez out of his squad, but is boosted by the return of defender David Navarro after a three-match suspension.

"Hopefully we'll have learnt from that experience, but their team will be different and so will ours, although I don't think their style will change because Diop is out," added Gracia.

"We know it will be a demanding game."

The Malaga coach will be without defenders Roberto Chen and Flavio Ferreira, while midfielder Sergi Darder is suspended, so Recio is expected to start in his place. Striker Javi Guerra and midfielder Ignacio Camacho are also doubts due to injury.