Villarreal will be looking to make it back-to-back victories over Young Boys in the Champions League when the two teams lock horns in Group F on Tuesday night.
The Yellow Submarine, who ran out 4-1 winners in the reverse fixture in Switzerland on October 20, are currently second in the section on four points, while Young Boys are bottom on three points.
Match preview
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Villarreal proved far too strong for Young Boys when the two teams went to battle in Bern on October 20, with Yeremi Pino, Gerard Moreno, Alberto Moreno and Samuel Chukwueze scoring in a 4-1 success for the visitors.
The Yellow Submarine have not won in their three games since, though, picking up just a single point from three La Liga matches against Athletic Bilbao, Cadiz and Valencia, and they will enter Tuesday's contest off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Los Che on Saturday night.
Unai Emery's side are currently down in 13th spot in Spain's top flight, winning two, drawing six and losing three of their 11 matches to collect 12 points, which represents a disappointing start.
In terms of the Champions League, Villarreal have collected four points from their three matches against Atalanta BC, Manchester United and Young Boys to sit second in the section behind Man United.
There are only three points separating fourth-placed Young Boys from the 20-time English champions at the top of Group F, though, and there is simply no downplaying the importance of this contest in Spain.
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Young Boys made a brilliant start to Group F, as they recorded a 2-1 win over Man United in the middle of September, but the Swiss outfit then suffered a 1-0 defeat to Atalanta in their second fixture on September 29.
David Wagner's side would have viewed the home game against Villarreal as the perfect chance to return to winning ways, but the result was a huge setback for the club, particularly considering that they will finish their group-stage campaign with difficult games against Atalanta (H) and Man United (A).
Young Boys won the Swiss Super League for the 15th time last season, which saw them automatically qualify for the Champions League second qualifying round, meaning that they had to play a lot of football ahead of the group stage, overcoming Slovan Bratislava, CFR Cluj and Ferencvaros.
The Swiss outfit will enter Tuesday's contest off the back of a 3-1 defeat at St. Gallen in the league, which has left them in third spot in their domestic table, five points behind leaders Basel.
Young Boys have actually lost just three of their last nine European away games, but they have been beaten in three of their previous four European fixtures against Spanish opposition.
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Team News
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Villarreal will again be without the services of Gerard Moreno and Juan Foyth on Tuesday night through injury, while Serge Aurier is ineligible to play in the Champions League group stage.
A 3-5-2 formation worked well for Emery's side in the reverse game with Young Boys, and it would not be a surprise to see the same setup for this match, with Aissa Mandi coming into the back three.
Paco Alcacer, meanwhile, could be selected alongside Arnaut Danjuma in the final third due to Gerard Moreno's absence, with Dani Parejo, Etienne Capoue and Francis Coquelin featuring in midfield.
As for Young Boys, goalkeeper David von Ballmoos is out for an extended period due to a shoulder injury, meaning that there should be a spot between the sticks for Guillaume Faivre.
The visitors will also be without the services of Cedric Zesiger, Fabian Lustenberger and Jean-Pierre Nsame, but the Swiss outfit did not pick up any fresh concerns in their league game on Saturday.
Young Boys could also line up in a 3-5-2 formation on Tuesday, with Meschack Elia, who scored in the first game against Villarreal, featuring alongside Theoson-Jordan Siebatcheu.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Mandi, Albiol, P Torres; Pino, Parejo, Capoue, Coquelin, Pedraza; Alcacer, Danjuma
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Faivre; Ngamaleu, Camara, Lauper, Lefort, Garcia; Aebischer, Martins, Fassnacht; Elia, Siebatcheu
We say: Villarreal 2-1 Young Boys
Young Boys are certainly better than they showed in the reverse match in Switzerland, but it is still a tough ask to overcome Villarreal on their own patch. We are expecting a tight game between two sides that like to get the ball down and pass but fancy Emery's team to just emerge victorious on the night.
Top tip
Matt Law
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 49.55%. A draw had a probability of 25.6% and a win for Young Boys had a probability of 24.88%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.35%) and 2-0 (9.24%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.14%), while for a Young Boys win it was 0-1 (7.88%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Villarreal would win this match.
