Valencia vs Villarreal 01/12/19

1 December 2019

Valencia and Villarreal will lock horns at the Estadio de Mestalla this weekend, with the home side looking to stretch their unbeaten run in La Liga (LL) H2Hs to three games (W1, D1).

The hosts’ three-game unbeaten LL run was brought to a halt last weekend as they lost 2-1 to Real Betis on the road (W2, D1). The Oranges have struggled to maintain a high quality of play ever since early October, picking up just three wins in seven league games since (W3, D2, L2). Five of their six LL matches in that sequence have seen both teams score, with three of those five results (win/loss) coming via the identical 2-1 scoreline (W2, L1). Still, Los Ches are just one of four Spanish sides that are yet to taste defeat on home turf this season (W3, D4), with three of those draws ending with the same 1-1 scoreline. Even though they ran out 3-0 winners when the two sides faced off here in LL last season, Valencia failed to beat Villarreal in four consecutive top-flight home H2Hs before, losing on three of those occasions (D1, L3).

Meanwhile, Villarreal’s haul of one point from their last four LL outings (D1, L3) has seen them slip to 12th in the table, two points adrift of 10th-placed Valencia. All of their defeats in the above sequence have witnessed the Yellow Submarine concede at least two total goals and score precisely one in the second half. Curiously, while both of Villarreal’s LL away wins this season saw them beat their rivals to nil, four of their five road defeats have come via the identical 2-1 scoreline. Still, the visitors know how to hurt their opponents in the first half when they play away from home, as six of eight LL away goals they’ve scored so far came before halftime.