Villarreal will be desperate to beat Espanyol when they visit the Estadio de la Ceramica on Sunday afternoon in La Liga, as the Yellow Submarine aim to finish in a UEFA Champions League (UCL) qualification spot for next season.
Due to Spain's high performance in European competitions this campaign, they have been allocated five places in the UCL which will be given to the top five in the final La Liga table. Villarreal are currently outside of them at the time of writing, sitting in sixth and two points behind fifth-placed Real Betis, albeit having played a game fewer.
A 3-0 defeat away to Celta Vigo proved damaging last time out, and was Villarreal's first defeat in five matches. They are also winless in four games on home soil, which should give Espanyol some hope of churning out a positive result.
The visitors are unbeaten in six matches in all competitions following a 1-1 draw away at Valencia last time out, and they had won their previous three. Villarreal have won four in a row in H2Hs though, which suggests Espanyol still have an uphill task ahead of them.
How the bookies view it: Villarreal favourites for victory
BoyleSports have Villarreal as 2/5 odds-on favourites for victory, while a draw is priced at 10/3 and an Espanyol win at 11/2 with the same bookmaker.
Recent head-to-head: Perez brace helps beat Espanyol
Ayoze Perez netted a brace for Villarreal in the reverse fixture as they came from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1 in September. Alex Baena also got both assists, with Jofre Carreras opening the scoring for the hosts.
Players to watch: Ayoze to score again?
Aside from his brace in the reverse fixture, Perez has also scored three goals in Villarreal's last five games. The Spaniard can be backed at 21/20 with BoyleSports to score anytime against Espanyol.
Javi Puado netted against Valencia last time out, and Villarreal certainly need to be wary of the Espanyol man.
Predicted lineups
It is one in one out for Villarreal in terms of suspensions, with Sergi Cardona returning but Eric Bailly missing out after receiving a red card against Celta Vigo. Baena should be fit after recovering from injury, but there are still a number of key names on the treatment table.
Espanyol have no fresh injury concerns, although Sergi Gomez remains doubtful to play.
Villarreal: Luiz Junior, Femenia, Foyth, Kambwala, Cardona, Pino, Comesana, Gueye, Baena, Perez, Barry.
Espanyol: Garcia, El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero, Gonzalez, Lozano, Carreras, Exposito, Puado, Fernandez.
Anything else catch the eye?
Both teams have scored in three of the last four H2Hs, and with the form Espanyol are in, they can certainly cause Villarreal problems. Back Both Teams To Score (BTTS) at 10/11 with BoyleSports.
In those four meetings, a total of 16 goals have also been scored at an average of four per match, so backing Over 3.5 total goals at 15/8 with the same bookmaker also seems a wise bet.
This La Liga match between Villarreal and Espanyol will be played on and kick off at 15:15. Check below for our tipsters best Villarreal vs Espanyol prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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