Granada will welcome Villarreal to the Nuevo Estadio de Los Carmenes on Saturday for a meeting with significant importance at both ends of the La Liga table.
The visitors find themselves battling for a spot in the top six, while their hosts sit just one place and four points above the relegation zone after four straight league defeats.
Match preview
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After an impressive campaign and eventual ninth-placed finish in La Liga last season, Granada have found the new term far more difficult and currently see themselves in a battle to avoid relegation.
Despite enjoying a brief revival between late November and early January, going seven league games without a defeat and earning 13 points, the Nazaries have since been dragged back into the mix following four straight losses.
The climb was first halted by 4-2 and 2-0 defeats to Getafe and Osasuna respectively, before Roberto Moreno's men fell to a narrow 1-0 loss at the hands of league leaders Real Madrid.
Granada then met Real Sociedad last weekend, and the losing run was stretched as Mikel Oyarzabal and Rafinha got on the scoresheet to send the visitors home empty-handed.
Now sitting 17th after 24 games with just 24 points, four more than Alaves in the drop zone, the Nazaries will be desperate to correct their form to put a vital cushion between themselves and the threat of relegation, but they face another tough test on Saturday.
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Villarreal travel south looking to extend their league unbeaten run to four games, having recently climbed up to seventh spot in the Spanish top-flight table.
While the Yellow Submarine experienced a slow start to the new campaign under Unai Emery, they now appear to have found a more impressive run of form, earning 20 points from their last nine league games.
After a four-game winning run was halted by a draw with Atletico Madrid and a loss to Elche, Emery's men again posted back-to-back victories, defeating 15th-placed Mallorca and third-placed Real Betis 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.
They stretched their unbeaten run to three games last time out by holding league leaders Real Madrid to a goalless draw on home turf, making it three consecutive clean sheets with only four sides having conceded fewer than the 23 goals that Villarreal have shipped in the top flight.
Having now climbed to seventh spot after their slow start, with fourth-placed Barcelona only three points ahead, the Yellow Submarine can give their hopes of a top-four finish another huge boost with what would be a 10th league win of the campaign on Saturday.
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Team News
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Granada will remain without Neyder Lozano and Santiago Arias, as the duo continue to recover from injuries.
Meanwhile, Isma Ruiz were absent last time out due to a positive coronavirus test, and he could again miss out.
Experienced former France international Maxime Gonalons should continue to be an anchor in midfield, while Luis Suarez is likely to lead the line, having netted six league goals so far this term.
Villarreal are unlikely to make many changes after an impressive run of results, with Emery tending to deploy a similar starting XI throughout the majority of the campaign.
Francis Coquelin and Ruben Pena are both ruled out due to injuries, while star forward Gerard Moreno was a fresh absentee last time out and may struggle to return in time for this weekend.
In his absence, Arnaut Danjuma led the line with the support of winger Samu Chukwueze and midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who arrived on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in January, and all three should keep their places with experienced striker Paco Alcacer also vying for a start.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Quini, Duarte, Torrente, Escudero; Collado, Gonalons, Milla, Soro; Suarez, Arezo
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Foyth, Albiol, Torres, A Moreno; Parejo; Chukwueze, Lo Celso, Pino; Alcacer, Danjuma
We say: Granada 0-2 Villarreal
Given the contrasting form of the two sides, we see Villarreal returning home with all three points on Saturday.
The Yellow Submarine have seemingly found their feet recently, built on their solid defensive foundations, and they are expected to get past a Granada side lacking any confidence or momentum.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Villarreal win with a probability of 62.29%. A draw had a probability of 20.7% and a win for Granada had a probability of 17.03%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 0-2 with a probability of 10.31%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (10.1%) and 1-2 (9.95%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.75%), while for a Granada win it was 1-0 (4.77%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 3.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Villarreal would win this match.
