Villarreal will be looking to return to winning ways on Saturday evening when they continue their La Liga campaign at home to Celta Vigo.
The Yellow Submarine, who sit seventh in the table, will enter the match off the back of a 1-0 defeat at Osasuna, while 10th-placed Celta recorded a 4-3 victory over Mallorca last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Villarreal saw a five-game unbeaten run in Spain's top flight come to an end last weekend when they suffered a 1-0 loss at Osasuna, with Ezequiel Avila netting the only goal of the contest in the 63rd minute.
The Yellow Submarine are still in the mix for a European spot this term, picking up 42 points from their 27 matches, which has left them in seventh spot in the table, two points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad and only six points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid on the same number of games.
Unai Emery's side thumped Espanyol 5-1 in their last league match on home soil, but they could be forgiven for being slightly distracted in this match due to their huge European contest next week.
Indeed, the La Liga outfit will face Juventus next Wednesday in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League contest, with the tie delicately poised following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Spain.
Villarreal have impressed at home in the league this season, picking up 28 points from their 14 matches, which is the third-best record in the division, but they lost 4-2 to Celta in the corresponding clash last term.
© Reuters
Celta, meanwhile, will enter this contest off the back of a seven-goal thriller with Mallorca; Iago Aspas's second of the match in the 97th minute secured a 4-3 victory for the Sky Blues, with the result leaving them in 10th, having collected 35 points from their 27 league matches.
Eduardo Coudet's side have only lost one of their last seven in the league, which came at Atletico on February 26, and they are only five points behind eighth-placed Athletic Bilbao ahead of the next set of games.
Celta have actually only lost two of their last seven La Liga matches with Villarreal, recording four wins in the process, including a 4-2 success in the corresponding game during the 2020-21 campaign.
The Sky Blues finished eighth in Spain's top flight last term and certainly have the firepower to push for a similar position this term, but they are entering a tough run of games, facing Villarreal, Real Betis and Real Madrid in their next three.
Coudet's team have impressed on their travels this term, collecting 17 points from 13 matches, but they have not been victorious away from home in La Liga since the start of January, picking up just two points from the last 12 available.
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Villarreal have lost Alberto Moreno to a long-term knee injury, while Paco Alcacer, Gerard Moreno and Ruben Pena are expected to remain on the sidelines for this match.
Head coach Emery will make changes from the side that started against Osasuna, with Moi Gomez set to replace the injured Alberto Moreno, while Boulaye Dia could come in for Giovani Lo Celso in the final third.
There could also be a change in a wide position, with Samuel Chukwueze potentially coming in for Yeremi Pino, but Dani Parejo should again feature in the middle of the park.
As for Celta, Hugo Mallo will be suspended following his red card against Mallorca last time out, which will open the door for Kevin Vazquez to start at right-back.
The visitors are otherwise in excellent shape, and Thiago Galhardo is expected to retain his starting spot alongside Aspas in attack, with Santi Mina set to be named on the bench.
Renato Tapia is pushing to be involved in the middle of the park, but Fran Beltran is likely to retain his spot at the base of the midfield, with Brais Mendez, Denis Suarez and Franco Cervi playing further forward.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Aurier, Albiol, P Torres, Estupinan; Chukwueze, Parejo, Capoue, M Gomez; Danjuma, Dia
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Dituro; Vazquez, Aidoo, Araujo, Galan; B Mendez, Beltran, D Suarez, Cervi; Aspas, Galhardo
We say: Villarreal 2-2 Celta Vigo
This has all of the makings of an entertaining game of football, with both sides able to call upon plenty of attacking talent. Celta will be looking to take advantage of the fact that Villarreal could be thinking about their European clash with Juventus, and we are predicting a 2-2 draw on Saturday evening.
Top tip
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 60.61%. A draw had a probability of 22.4% and a win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 16.97%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.47%) and 2-1 (9.77%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.64%), while for a Celta Vigo win it was 0-1 (5.8%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Villarreal in this match.
