Espanyol – Villarreal / Primera Division – Major problems are in the current season Espanyol, which somehow can not rise from the lower half of the table and currently has a series of four winless duels. As expected, this team was eliminated from the Cup, and indeed by Barcelona. Villarreal is much better in the championship and is in international league positions, but this team has been defeated in the last two championship duels, as well as in the first duel of the preliminary round of the Europa League. Thus, they could soon be eliminated from this competition. The first joint duel of these two opponents ended surprisingly goalless.
Espanyol
Espanyol are getting smaller and smaller in the relegation zone and still have no reason to panic. They are four rounds winless, although it must be stressed that they had a pretty heavy game plan. After two defeats, they made two draws in a row, so you can say that they are gradually improving their game form. They played undecided against Barcelona, which is almost always a win, apart from playing at home. In the last round, they brought in an away winger at Celta, which is also good performance, especially as they scored the goal for the 2-2 draw just three minutes before the finish.
But they were in the lead against Barcelona almost to the end and in both matches G. Moreno met, who obviously has an excellent form of play. Coach Flores has not changed the line-up much in the last two duels and only Granero failed in Vigo while C. Sanchez slipped in, who was recently brought from Florence. In the last two duels, they performed well, so we do not expect any changes now, as they do not struggle with barriers and injuries.
Villarreal
For a long time, Villarreal is fifth or sixth in the table, and in the light of that, one might think that they are not volatile. However, this team already has highs and lows, so after three consecutive defeats they had a series of six matches without defeat and they even won five wins, including away wins over Real Madrid and Valencia. Now it goes downhill again and they were defeated away at Betis and at home by Alaves, which was a special surprise.
After that, they also suffered defeat in the first match of the preliminary round of the European League, namely away from Lyon (1: 3), so they face a difficult task in the second leg. They have sold the best player Bakambu to China, which has really weakened them. Coach Calleja has run almost identical lines in the duels against Alaves and Lyon. The team has returned to Rodri, who could not play in the championship because of a suspension and slipped in is Cheryshev. Now there may be some changes in the lineup as many players are pretty exhausted.
Espanyol – Villarreal TIP
Neither Espanyol nor Villarreal have good form, but it is clear that the guests are more exhausted, which could be a big problem. They are thinking a lot more about the return match with Lyon, which Espanyol should use in their own favor to at least continue the series of draws or maybe even win.
Tip: Asian Handicap 0 Espanyol
