VILLARREAL still have a chance of landing a Champions League slot but taking maximum points from struggling sides like Real Mallorca is essential if they want to gatecrash the top four.
Javier Calleja's men returned from lockdown with a 1-0 victory away to Celta Vigo and it was a much-needed boost after losing their last three La Liga games before football went into cold storage.
The Yellow Submarine have a tough run-in, facing Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia in four of their next eight games, so they can't afford a slip up against a Mallorca team stuck in the drop zone.
Real Mallorca had a tough assignment in their first game back at home to Barcelona and ended up losing 4-0 to the champions, which brought up my bet of over 3.5 strikes.
The defeat wasn't too damaging to their relegation fight though as defeats for Celta and Eibar over the weekend preserved the status quo at the bottom of the table.
Now Mallorca will be hoping to ask a few questions of Villarreal's defence as they seek a victory that could move them out of the bottom three.
How the bookies view it
Home advantage doesn't count as much with no fans but Mallorca have still been written off by the bookies and are a best 21/4 with Unibet.
The draw is 7/2 with the same firm while Villarreal are a skinny 8/15 with most firms. There's little value in that so try a Villarreal win with both teams to score at 11/5 with Bet365.
Mallorca let me down for a goal when I backed a Barca win with BTTS on Saturday but they were unlucky and came close a few times. Villarreal have also conceded in their last four home games so I'm hoping that run continues.
Recent head to head
Mallorca have won the last two games between these sides but both of those came on home soil, including a 3-1 triumph earlier this season (below).
Their record at El Madrigal has been poor, failing to win on their last eight visits since a 2-0 victory way back in 2003. It ended 2-0 to the Yellow Submarine when they came calling last season.
Players to watch
I flagged up Takefusa Kubo as Mallorca's biggest threat against Barcelona and the Japanese kid impressed despite drawing a blank.
Kubo scored in that 3-1 win over Villarreal earlier this season and the on-loan Real Madrid man is worth considering for a goal here at 6/1 with Paddy Power.
Paco Alcacer has only managed two goals in eight games for Villarreal since his move from Dortmund but is still a class act. He's 11/8 with Bet365 for anytime scorer here and SkyBet price him at 9/1 to net two or more goals.
Anything else catch the eye?
Villarreal have won by a two-goal margin in three of their last four home games against Mallorca. A repeat here pays 37/10 with SportNation while a two-goal winning margin for either side is 14/5 with Betway.
William Hill price Villarreal at 6/4 to score in both halves and that could be worth a punt if their big guns are a bit more ruthless after blowing away the weekend cobwebs.
This La Liga match between Villarreal and Real Mallorca will be played on Jun 16, 2020 and kick off at 18:30. Check below for our tipsters best Villarreal vs Real Mallorca prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
In December 2020 we sadly 
