Villarreal will be looking to move into third position in La Liga when they continue their 2020-21 campaign away to Celta Vigo on Friday night.
The visitors will enter the match off the back of successive wins in the league and Copa del Rey respectively, but Celta, who had been in excellent form under their new manager, have now lost their last two.
Match preview
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Celta entered last Saturday's clash with Real Madrid in excellent form, having won six and lost just one of their eight matches under new head coach Eduardo Coudet, which had seen them rise up the table.
The Sky Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat to Zinedine Zidane's side, though, with Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio on the scoresheet for the reigning Spanish champions.
Celta would have been looking to return to winning ways in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night, but they suffered a surprise 5-2 defeat to Segunda Division B outfit Ibiza.
Even with the recent disappointment, the home side currently sit eighth in La Liga with a record of six wins, five draws and six defeats from 17 matches, which has allowed them to collect 23 points.
Celta are only actually five points off fifth-placed Barcelona, meanwhile, and have been victorious in three of their last four matches with Villarreal in Spain's top flight.
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Villarreal, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a 4-1 win over Zamora in the second round of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday; Unai Emery rung the changes for the contest but his team were still far too strong for the Segunda Division B side.
The Yellow Submarine recorded a 2-1 victory over Levante in the league last weekend, meanwhile, to move onto 29 points for the season, which has left them in fourth position in the table.
Emery's side, who have only lost two of their 17 league games this term, would move into third if they manage to triumph on Friday evening, and there is no question that a return to the Champions League spots is on the agenda.
El Submarino Amarillo have actually only won two of their eight La Liga matches on the road this season, though, scoring just eight times in the process, which is not quite top-four form.
Villarreal's recent record against Celta is also poor, but they did record a 1-0 victory when the two teams last locked horns in the latter stages of the 2019-20 campaign.
Celta Vigo La Liga form: WWWDWL
Celta Vigo form (all competitions): WWDWLL
Villarreal La Liga form: DDWDLW
Villarreal form (all competitions): WWDLWW
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The defeat at Real Madrid came at a huge cost for Celta, who lost both Iago Aspas and Nolito to injuries during the contest, with the two attackers now facing spells on the sidelines.
Renato Tapia is also suspended due to the booking that he picked up against the champions, while David Junca remains on the sidelines through injury.
Head coach Coudet will make wholesale changes from the side that started against Ibiza, with Santi Mina, Brais Mendez, Denis Suarez, Lucas Olaza and Nestor Araujo among those expected to return, but Miguel Baeza, Fran Beltran and Okay Yokuslu could keep their positions in the side.
As for Villarreal, Vicente Iborra, Paco Alcacer, Juan Foyth and Francis Coquelin remain on the sidelines through injury, but Emery's side did not pick up any fresh issues against Zamora.
Carlos Bacca's goal on Tuesday could see the experienced striker earn a spot in the final third of the field ahead of Fer Nino, while Samuel Chukwueze will also be hoping to retain his spot in a wide area.
There will be wholesale changes from the Copa del Rey clash, though, with Sergio Asenjo, Dani Parejo, Moi Gomez, Manu Trigueros, Ruben Pena, Pau Torres and Gerard Moreno all set to return.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Blanco; Mallo, Murillo, Araujo, Olaza; Beltran, Yokuslu, Baeza; D Suarez; Mendez, Mina
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Pena, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Parejo, Trigueros, M Gomez; Chukwueze, Bacca, G Moreno
We say: Celta Vigo 1-2 Villarreal
Celta have had a recent blip after an excellent run of form under their new manager, and the home side will be missing some key individuals on Friday night. A draw would be our prediction if Celta had both Aspas and Nolito available, but we are backing Villarreal to pick up an important three points here.
Top betting tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Villarreal win with a probability of 47.45%. A win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 26.96% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.28%) and 0-2 (8.56%). The likeliest Celta Vigo win was 1-0 (7.98%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.16%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 1.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Villarreal would win this match.
