Ad Ceuta are still searching for their first point of the Segunda campaign, and the mood around the Estadio Municipal Alfonso Murube is getting twitchy. They have faced Burgos, among others, and come away empty-handed, and the treatment room is doing them no favours. The club's medical staff are working overtime to get Petxarromán, Lapeña, Marino, Kenneth, Koné and Cedric back in contention, but that is a long queue of absentees for a squad that already lacks top-flight depth. The fixture list has not been kind, and now they run into a Valladolid side desperate to stop the rot. The Andalusians will be hoping home advantage and the narrow pitch at the Alfonso Murube can drag them through, but the early-season evidence suggests they are a side still finding its feet in the division.

Real Valladolid, by contrast, arrive with a point to prove. The Blanquivioletas have not been able to string wins together, and the pressure is mounting on the coaching staff. But this is a club with a LaLiga budget and a squad that should be competing at the top end of the Segunda, not scrapping in the bottom half. The recent international break gave them a chance to reset, and the midweek presentation of new signings Tay Abed and Dani Martín was a reminder that sporting director Víctor Orta has been active in the market. Valladolid have the better players, the better structure and the greater urgency. They will see this trip to North Africa as the perfect opportunity to get back on track.