Seeking to avoid a third successive La Liga defeat, Villarreal play hosts to Espanyol at the Estadi de la Ceramica on Thursday evening.
While the hosts remain in contention to qualify for Europe, the visitors are at risk of relegation to the second tier just two years after securing promotion to the top flight.
Match preview
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After winning three successive La Liga games, including an impressive 3-2 triumph at Real Madrid, Villarreal have since suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats against Real Valladolid and Sevilla, losing to the latter away from home last weekend.
Pau Torres restored parity for the Yellow Submarine 10 minutes after the break, cancelling out Rafa Mir's first-half opener, but it was Sevilla who had the last laugh as Youssef En-Nesyri netted a dramatic 94th-minute winner to condemn the visitors to their 11th league defeat of the season.
Quique Setien's side now appear to be outsiders in the race to qualify for the Champions League, as they sit seven points behind Real Sociedad in fourth, but they remain firmly in the mix to secure a top-six finish, currently occupying the Europa Conference League qualification spot in sixth and sit just one point behind Real Betis in fifth.
Five of Villarreal's final eight La Liga games of the season will take place at home, although they have struggled to grind out results in front of their own fans in recent months as they have won only three of their last nine matches at the Estadi de la Ceramica.
However, the Yellow Submarine have won their last two meetings with Espanyol, following up last season's emphatic 5-1 home victory with a slender 1-0 away win in November this term, and they will be confident of returning to winning ways against their relegation-threatened counterparts on Thursday.
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Espanyol ended a six-game losing streak when they played out a goalless stalemate at home against Cadiz last weekend.
While picking up a point and keeping a clean sheet will have been welcomed by head coach Luis Garcia, the White and Blues remain embroiled in a relegation dogfight as they sit 19th in the La Liga standings, two points adrift of safety with eight games remaining.
Espanyol has a mixed set of fixtures to end the campaign, with tricky encounters against Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal accompanied by clashes against relegation rivals Getafe, Valencia and Almeria.
The White and Blues have only won one of their last six meetings with Thursday's opponents Villarreal, although that did take place at the Estadi de la Ceramica – securing a 2-1 win in January 2020 after playing the final half-hour with 10 men.
Espanyol, who have picked up the same number of points on the road (14) as they have on home soil so far this season, know that a victory on Thursday can see them climb out of the relegation zone if other results go their way.
Team News
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Villarreal midfielder Francis Coquelin is ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, while Kiko Femenia and Jose Luis Morales are also sidelined with muscle problems.
Striker Gerard Moreno has missed the last four matches with a calf issue and will be assessed ahead of kickoff on Thursday, as will defender Raul Albiol who sustained a knee injury early in the defeat to Real Valladolid and subsequently missed the loss to Sevilla.
Yeremy Pino, who became the first Villarreal player to score four goals in a single La Liga match in the 5-1 home win over Espanyol last season, is expected to continue on the left flank, while Nicolas Jackson is the most likely candidate to replace the injured Morales up front.
As for Espanyol, Brian Olivan remains sidelined with a muscle injury, while Aleix Vidal will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
After keeping a clean sheet against Cadiz, Garcia may consider sticking with a back five, which would see Cesar Montes join Leandro Cabrera and Sergi Gomez at centre-back.
Joselu, who has been involved in six goals in his last five La Liga games against Villarreal (three goals and three assists), is set to start up front alongside Martin Braithwaite, who has failed to score in his last three starts.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Reina; Foyth, Mandi, P. Torres, Pedraza; Chukwueze, Parejo, Capoue, Pino; Lo Celso; Jackson
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Gil, Montes, Gomes, Cabrera, Pedrosa; Exposito, Souza, Darder; Braithwaite, Joselu
We say: Villarreal 2-0 Espanyol
Villarreal's defeats to bottom-half teams in their last two matches will provide some optimism for an Espanyol side who are struggling for form themselves and can ill-afford to drop too many more points in their battle to avoid relegation.
Nevertheless, the hosts will be regarded as favourites to come out on top on Thursday and they should have enough quality in their side to record a routine win at the Estadi de la Ceramica.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
