On Thursday, Villarreal will head to Asturias to face Sporting Gijon with a place in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey at stake.
Both sides head into the encounter in promising form, with the hosts looking to extend their current unbeaten run to five games, while Villarreal are looking for their seventh consecutive win in all competitions.
Match preview
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Sporting Gijon are looking to reach the last 16 of the Copa del Rey for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they play host to Villarreal on Thursday.
The Rojiblancos needed extra time to book their place in the round of 32 after their second-round tie with Alcorcon ended level after 90 minutes.
In that encounter, Abdel Al Badaoui equalised in the second period after Nacho Mendez had given Sporting Gijon the lead minutes before the interval.
With no team able to find a winner in regular time, the encounter headed into an additional 30 minutes, and it was David Gallego's side who progressed courtesy of Uros Durdevic's winner.
Thursday's hosts will enter the encounter in high spirits after avoiding defeat in their previous four matches, and with their last four home games in all competitions ending 1-1 after 90 minutes, Sporting Gijon will be hopeful that they can trouble their La Liga opponents.
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Villarreal have never won the Copa del Rey, but they may fancy their chances this season, although they must negotiate a tricky away fixture against second-tier side Sporting Gijon first.
The Yellow Submarine head into Thursday's encounter in a rich vein of form after winning their last six matches in all competitions.
In recent weeks, they have been particularly impressive in the final third, scoring 20 goals in their previous four games.
Incredibly, they have netted at least five goals in three of their last four outings, and they impressed once again in their last outing as they thrashed Levante 5-0.
Having scored 15 goals in their first two Copa Del Rey games this season, Unai Emery's side will be confident of booking their place in the last 16.
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Team News
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Sporting Gijon are missing the injured trio of Ivan Cuellar, Victor Campuzano and Pablo Perez.
Gallego could name an unchanged side from the one that drew against Lugo at the weekend.
After scoring in his last two games, Aitor Garcia will be one of the home side's major goal threats on Thursday.
Villarreal will have to cope without the services of Serge Aurier, Aissa Mandi, Boulaye Dia and Samuel Chukwueze over the next few weeks as the quartet head off to Cameroon to represent their respective countries at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Injury issues will prevent Paco Alcacer and Ruben Pena from taking part in Thursday's cup fixture.
Francis Coquelin is also unavailable after having surgery on his left Achilles tendon on Tuesday.
Sporting Gijon possible starting lineup:
Marino; Rosas, Gragera, Lopez, P. Garcia; Mendez, Diaz, Villalba; A. Garcia, Campos, Djurdjevic
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, A. Moreno; Pino, Capoue, Trigueros, Gomez; Raba, G. Moreno
We say: Sporting Gijon 1-4 Villarreal
Villarreal's current form suggests that they will make light work of Sporting Gijon on Thursday, and we think they will continue their fine goalscoring touch to ease into the last 16.
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 43.11%. A win for Sporting Gijon had a probability of 31.73% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.01%) and 0-2 (7.12%). The likeliest Sporting Gijon win was 1-0 (7.84%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.88%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood.
