Villarreal vs Sevilla

Estadio de la Ceramica forms the backdrop for a mid-table La Liga fixture between Villarreal and Sevilla. 

Villarreal’s late push for European qualification suffered a hammer blow last weekend as Celta Vigo squeezed past a 10-man Yellow Submarine 3-2 at home, expanding the gap between Marcelino’s team and seventh-placed Real Betis to seven points. Despite winning six of their last nine La Liga matches (D1, L2), the hosts are on the cusp of their worst top-flight campaign since 2018/19. However, they still have four games to make amends, starting with a daunting-looking home clash against Sevilla. A 1-1 draw in December’s reverse fixture extended Villarreal’s winless H2H run against the Andalusian outfit to five league games (D3, L2). They failed to get on the scoresheet more than once in any of those five encounters, which has been the case in two of their last three home league outings (W2, L1).

On the other hand, Sevilla put Granada to the sword in an overwhelming 3-0 home win last weekend, stretching their formidable La Liga run to five unbeaten matches (W4, D1). With three of those four victories coming ‘to nil,’ scoring the opening goal could set the tone for another memorable weekend. Quique Sanchez Flores’ men have fared equally well on their recent travels, collecting two wins and a draw across their last three La Liga visits to mid-table opponents. With a league-high 79% of Villarreal’s matches this season seeing both teams score, one goal might not be enough for Los Rojiblancos to post their first top-flight win at La Ceramica since November 2017!