Thursday night we welcome Valencia to the Emirates for the first leg of the Europa League semi-final at a time when we are not at our best but what about our Spanish opponents, what state are they in?
Well, they visit us on the back of two losses on the bounce with their most recent game resulting in a 1-0 home loss to Eibar.
They are sixth in La Liga with just 52 points from 35 games in a league that is arguably less competitive than the Premier League. Compare that with our 66 points from 36 games.
In better words, Valencia are not exactly on fire themselves right now, they have had a worse season than we have and that is saying something and it must be noted that they are in the process of throwing away their top-four hopes in the same manner that we are.
They are three points behind Getafe in fourth but would have been in fourth if they had won their last two games and even worse for them, they are just two points ahead of Athletico Bilbao in the race for the final Europa League spot.
Now, I am not trying to deflect from our own recent performances and the state we are in, all I am trying to point out is that our opponents on Thursday night are not in a much better state than what we are.
We can bounce back and we will, it is not as if we are having to face Barcelona or Manchester City and in the face of so much negativity surrounding our club right now, it is comforting to be able to seek out some positives and I am hoping that highlighting the vulnerable state of Valencia that we can at least look forward to Thursday evening with some degree of confidence.