Villarreal will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins in Spain's top flight when they continue their campaign at home to relegation-threatened Cadiz on Sunday afternoon.
The Yellow Submarine will enter the contest off the back of a 5-3 victory at Barcelona, while Cadiz's last match at this level of football saw them hold Athletic Bilbao to a goalless draw.
Match preview
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There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a disappointing 2023-24 La Liga campaign for Villarreal, with the team currently sitting down in 14th position in the table on 23 points.
The Yellow Submarine are some 24 points off the top four and also 13 points from the top six, so it is going to take an extraordinary effort for them to pull themselves into European contention in Spain's top flight.
Villarreal have qualified for the knockout round of the Europa League, though, which represents their best chance of securing European football for next season, while they will hope that last weekend's win over Barcelona will be a springboard for them in La Liga.
Indeed, Marcelino's side recorded a 5-3 victory over the reigning champions last time out and will now go in search of their seventh La Liga win of the campaign.
Villarreal, who finished fifth in Spain's top flight last season, actually lost 3-1 to Cadiz in the reverse match earlier this season, but they won the corresponding game 2-0 last term.
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Mauricio Pellegrino made a positive start to life as Cadiz head coach last weekend, with the 52-year-old guiding the team to a goalless draw at home to Athletic Bilbao.
Wins will be the name of the game for Pellegrino in the coming weeks, but the stalemate with a team chasing a Champions League finish will go down as a positive result, and despite being inside the relegation zone at this stage, 18th-placed El Submarino Amarillo are just a point behind Celta Vigo in 17th.
Cadiz are comfortably the lowest goalscorers in Spain's top flight this season, only managing to find the back of the net on 15 occasions, but they managed to bring in talented attacker Juanmi on loan from Real Betis on transfer deadline day and will hope that he can make a difference.
The Andalusian outfit have the third-worst away record in La Liga this season, picking up just four points from 11 matches, but Villarreal have also struggled at home, only recording three wins from 11 games.
Cadiz have not actually tasted victory in Spain's top flight since the start of September, which was ironically the 3-1 home success over Villarreal.
Team News
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Villarreal could have new signing Bertrand Traore in contention for this match, with the 28-year-old ending his time at Aston Villa in order to make the move to Marcelino's side.
The Yellow Submarine remain without a number of players, though, with Alfonso Pedraza, Ramon Terrats, Dani Parejo, Raul Albiol, Juan Foyth, Yeremy Pino and Denis Suarez all injured.
Goncalo Guedes is in contention to start following his strong performance off the bench against Barcelona, but he could ultimately be forced to accept a substitute role once again, with Ilias Akhomach, Alex Baena, Gerard Moreno and Alexander Sorloth all in impressive form against the champions.
As for Cadiz, Fede San Emeterio, Luis Hernandez, Javi Hernandez, Darwin Machis and Roger Marti will miss out due to injury problems.
Meanwhile, Fali and Ruben Alcaraz picked up milestone yellow cards in the goalless draw with Athletic last time out and will therefore be unavailable for selection.
Juanmi is in contention to feature following his arrival from Real Betis, while Aiham Ousou made the move to the club from Slavia Prague on deadline day, and he could also be involved in the squad here.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; Femenia, Bailly, Cuenca, A Moreno; Akhomach, Comesana, Coquelin, Baena; G Moreno, Sorloth
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Mari, Chust, Pires; Alejo, Alex, Escalante, Navarro; Sobrino, Ramos
We say: Villarreal 1-0 Cadiz
Cadiz's defensive record this season is strong considering their position in the table, and we are not expecting Villarreal to comfortably triumph this weekend. The hosts will have been boosted by their success over Barcelona, though, and we can see them securing another vital three points on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
