The first match to kick-off on Thursday night in La Liga is the game between Villarreal and Espanyol at Estadio de la Ceramica. Villarreal have been one of the real success stories in La Liga in recent years and have forged a great reputation, not only in Spain but Europe. However, they will do well to repeat their 5th place finish of last season again, having lost only 9 matches throughout the whole of the campaign. Espanyol finished just outside the European qualification places last season, coming 8th in La Liga. It was a good season and has given them something on which to build.
Villarreal Form
The season did not start well for Villarreal who lost their first 2 matches of the 2017/18 La Liga season. There were defeats at Levante and Real Sociedad, the latter of which was a 3-0 defeat, not something we are accustomed to seeing as far as Villarreal are concerned. However, back-to-back home matches, one in La Liga and the other in the Europa League allowed Villarreal to get back into the winning habit.
There was a 3-1 victory over Real Betis in La Liga and a 3-1 win over Astana in the Europa League. On Sunday Villarreal travelled to Deportivo Alaves and picked up a good 3-0 win, which enough to push them into mid-table ahead of this game.
Espanyol Form
Espanyol have struggled at the start of this season but finally picked up their first win of the season at the fourth attempt on Monday night. They defeated Celta Vigo 2-1 at home and that win moved them onto 4 points. Espanyol’s only other point this season came from their good 1-1 draw at the start of the campaign in Sevilla. Having picked up a point in a difficult away match, the home fans were looking forward to seeing Espanyol against Leganes but they lost the match 1-0. This was followed by a heavy 5-0 defeat at Barcelona and the win over Celta Vigo on Monday was crucial in terms of Espanyol’s confidence ahead of this game.
Team News
Villarreal still have several players in the treatment room ahead of this game including Adrian Marin, Sergio Asenjo, Bruno Soriano and Andres Fernandez. Mariano Barbosa and Juame Costa are rated as doubtful. Espanyol are without the injured duo of Oscar Duarte and Javi Lopez. Mario Hermoso should keep his place in defence and Espanyol are unlikely to make many changes following their first win of the season.
Top Betting Tips
Villarreal have won 4 of their last 5 home La Liga games and are undefeated in 16 of their last 17 games against Espanyol in La Liga. Villarreal are 8/11 with Ladbrokes to win the match. Villarreal had one of the best defensive records in La Liga last season but a look back at home results shows 7 of the last 9 have seen both teams scoring. Espanyol have scored in 5 of their last 6 away league games. Both teams to score is 10/11 with Ladbrokes. Villarreal have scored at least 2 goals in 6 of their last 7 home La Liga games. You can get 20/23 with Coral for Villarreal to score 2 or more goals in this game.