Espanyol v Villarreal

Espanyol vs Villarreal Preview

Espanyol were not only unable to make it three league wins on the trot in the Spanish La Liga last weekend but the upcoming hosts were dealt a heavy 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid, while Villarreal also found themselves on the end of a particularly heavy 5-1 loss when they entertained the current league leaders Barcelona on home soil at their Estadio de la Cerámica, so it would be fair to say both sides will be desperate to produce much better showings in this midweek clash.

It's been a tough start to this new La Liga season for Espanyol as the hosts have managed to pick up just two wins from their opening six matches of the new term which have come in the shape of victories over Rayo Vallecano and Alaves respectively but the home side have also slipped to three defeats as well.

Losses to Real Valladolid, Real Sociedad and Real Madrid suggest Espanyol may find things tough going once again on Thursday night when they play host to Villarreal but the glimmer of hope for the hosts is that both of their two wins collected to date were recorded on home soil at their Stage Front Stadium.

However, the bigger picture shows Espanyol have registered just four wins out of their last 21 matches overall in the Spanish top flight, whilst also being handed 12 defeats in the process as well.

Villarreal's unbeaten start to this new La Liga season was left in tatters after last weekend's 5-1 humiliation to the current league leaders Barcelona and to make things worse this heavy defeat was handed out to Villarreal at home as well.

The visitors had previously put together a solid looking five-match unbeaten start to the new domestic top flight season which included collecting early season wins against Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Mallorca respectively, along with picking up useful points in draws with Atletico Madrid and Valencia.

Villarreal have been a tough unit to beat overall for some time now in the Spanish top flight as Marcelino's side have slipped to just three defeats in their last 24 matches overall in La Liga while also collecting 12 wins in the process.

Seven of these 12 wins picked up by Villarreal have also been achieved on their travels and having lost just once in their last 10 La Liga matches overall, the visitors look to have a decent chance of getting something out of this upcoming trip to the Stage Front Stadium on Thursday night.

In addition, Villarreal have lost just once in their last 12 away games in La Liga.

Espanyol v Villarreal Verdict

Villarreal have won each of the last three meetings against Espanyol and the visitors look the more likely in this upcoming clash too.

Therefore, our main bet will be Villarreal win @ 2.15

Other side bets worth considering:

Villarreal win & Under 2.5 goals @ 5.00

Correct Score: Villarreal 2-0 @ 11.00