Villarreal will be aiming to make it four straight wins in La Liga when they welcome Valencia to Estadio de la Ceramica on Sunday afternoon.
The Yellow Submarine's strong form has moved them up into 11th position in the table, boasting 35 points from 28 matches, and they sit five points behind eighth-placed Valencia ahead of this contest.
Match preview
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Villarreal came up short in the last-16 stage of the Europa League, having ultimately given themselves too much to do in the second leg of their clash with Marseille on Thursday night.
The Yellow Submarine lost 4-0 to Marseille in the first leg in France last week; they managed to triumph 3-1 at home on Thursday evening but still exited the competition courtesy of a 5-3 aggregate defeat.
Villarreal's focus will now be on La Liga for the remainder of the campaign, and Marcelino's side are in strong form, winning their last three against Real Sociedad, Granada and Real Betis, while they are unbeaten in their last eight fixtures at this level of football.
El Submarino Amarillo finished fifth last season, but they currently sit down in 11th position in the table, boasting 35 points from 28 matches.
Marcelino's side are eight points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad, so it will be difficult to secure a European finish, but their form is excellent, and another win this weekend would certainly boost their European hopes heading into the final straight.
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Valencia also have their eyes on a top-six spot, currently sitting eighth in the table, just three points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad, crucially with a game in hand.
Los Che will bring a three-game unbeaten run into this contest, drawing with Sevilla and Real Madrid before recording a 1-0 victory over Getafe last time out, with Hugo Duro registering the winner.
Valencia finished 16th in Spain's top flight last season, which proved to be their worst final placing since being relegated back in 1986, but there has been a huge improvement during the 2023-24 campaign.
Ruben Baraja's side have been strong at home this term, picking up 28 points from 14 matches at Mestalla, but they have only recorded three victories on their travels.
Los Che will be looking to make it a league double over Villarreal this season, having recorded a 3-1 victory when the two teams locked horns at Mestalla back in January.
Team News
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Villarreal have struggled with injuries in recent weeks, and they will again be missing some important players for this match, with Raul Albiol, Alfonso Pedraza, Ramon Terrats, Juan Foyth and Denis Suarez all out.
Meanwhile, the Yellow Submarine will also have to work around the absence of Alberto Moreno, who is suspended due to the red card that he picked up against Real Betis last weekend.
Alex Baena is likely to be introduced into the Villarreal midfield for this match, while Eric Bailly was taken off early in the second half against Marseille, which could lead to Yerson Mosquera coming into the back four.
As for Valencia, Andre Almeida is a doubt due to illness, while Mouctar Diakhaby is a long-term absentee for Los Che, having suffered a serious knee injury in the recent clash with Real Madrid.
Los Che will also be missing a player through suspension this weekend, with Hugo Guillamon picking up a milestone yellow card in the one-goal success over Getafe.
Head coach Baraja is expected to name an unchanged side for this match, with Duro, who has scored 12 league goals during an impressive campaign, again operating in the final third of the field.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; Femenia, Mosquera, Mandi, Cuenca; Capoue, Parejo, Baena; G Moreno, Sorloth, Guedes
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Mosquera, Ozkacar, Gaya; F Perez, Pepelu, Guerra, Canos; Duro, Yaremchuk
We say: Villarreal 2-2 Valencia
This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and we are predicting goals on Sunday. Villarreal are in excellent form, but Valencia will be comfortably the fresher of the two teams, and we are expecting Los Che to claim a share of the spoils this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
