Preview: Racing Santander vs Villarreal- prediction, team news, lineups

Racing de Santander will face their biggest test yet when they welcome La Liga side Villarreal for their round of 32 Copa del Rey encounter at Estadio El Sardinero on Wednesday.

The hosts got past Ponferradina in the previous round, and they will be hoping to go one better by defeating the Yellow Submarine on Wednesday.

Match preview

Racing Santander secured a hard-fought passage to the next round of the 2025–26 Copa del Rey, having needed extra time to dispatch Ponferradina 2–1.

Despite the gulf in quality between the two sides, Jose Alberto Lopez’s charges could not get the job done in normal time, needing Aritz Aldasoro’s 119th-minute effort to send them through to the next round of the competition.

Next up for the Segunda Division leaders is Villarreal, and they will be aiming to take the scalp of the La Liga side; supporters of the Green and White will be quite confident of their team’s chances given their recent form.

The hosts are currently on a six-game unbeaten run, recording four victories and two draws, scoring 13 times in that run.

That said, the Mountaineers will do well to be cautiously optimistic, having lost at the same stage to another La Liga side, Celta Vigo, in the previous season.

Moreover, they have an atrocious record against the visiting side, with only two wins in their last 15 head-to-head encounters; their last victory was earned courtesy of a narrow 1–0 success in the Spanish top flight in December 2011.

While Villarreal have struggled in Europe, they have been going strong in domestic competitions, including La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

In their last outing in this competition, they needed penalty kicks to get past lowly-rated Antoniano in the previous round; nevertheless, they will go into this contest as favourites to advance to the next phase.

Their status as favourites is further justified by their record of nine victories, three draws and two losses across 15 competitive matches against the hosts.

Although their La Liga fixture away to Levante last weekend was called off due to bad weather conditions in the Valencia region, that situation will afford Marcelino’s men extra rest ahead of this encounter.

Granted that the Yellow Submarine are in the mix for the La Liga title this season, their most realistic route to silverware is the Copa del Rey; nonetheless, they have not gone beyond the quarter-final since they were eliminated by Barcelona in the semi-final in the 2014-15 season.

Racing Santander form (all competitions):

Villarreal form (all competitions):

Team News

Barring any new development in terms of player availability, Jose Alberto Lopez is likely to send out the same team that started in their 1–1 draw against Leganes at the weekend.

With Jokin Ezkieta still out on the sidelines, Plamen Andreev is set to be named as the guardian between the sticks once again.

At the base of the midfield, Gustavo Puerta and Maguette Gueye should provide cover for the back four on Wednesday.

Up top, Asier Villalibre, who has notched 10 goals so far this season, is expected to get the nod to lead the line.

For the visitors, despite not being in action at the weekend, Marcelino could ring changes to his team for this match, but a few experienced heads are likely to be included.

However, there will be no place for Pau Cabanes (ligament), Logan Costa (ligament) and Gerard Moreno (muscle), who are all injured.

Racing Santander possible starting lineup:

Andreev, Salina, Ramon, Castro, Mantilla; Puerta, Gueye; Vicente, Canales, Martin; Villalibre

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Tenas; Altimira, Veiga, Marin, Cardona; Pepe, Partey, Gueye, Solomon; Oluwaseyi, Lopez

We say: Racing Santander 1-2 Villarreal

Racing Santander have been earning results, and it is no surprise that they are dictating the pace in the second tier. They have a knack for scoring goals, with 41 in 18 league matches so far, but the same cannot be said of their defensive setup, having conceded 26 times.

At home, they are unbeaten in six matches in all competitions, but that may be about to change with the superior firepower of Villarreal. Hence, we are backing Villarreal to claim a 2–1 win.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.