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Valencia logo
La Liga | Gameweek 26
Mar 5, 2021 at 8pm UK
Mestalla
Villarreal logo
Valencia
2 - 1
Villarreal
Soler (86' pen.), Guedes (90+2')
Racic (14'), Soler (23'), Gaya (39'), Gomez (67')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Moreno (40' pen.)
Foyth (36'), Capoue (42'), Albiol (85')

Preview: Valencia vs. Villarreal - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Friday's La Liga clash between Valencia and Villarreal, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Both Valencia and Villarreal will be looking to bounce back from defeats when they continue their respective La Liga campaigns with a clash at the Mestalla on Friday night.

The home side will enter the contest off the back of a 3-0 defeat at Getafe last weekend, while Villarreal suffered a 2-0 home loss to league leaders Atletico Madrid.


Match preview

Valencia boss Javi Gracia celebrates with Uros Racic in January 2021© Reuters

There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a disappointing 2020-21 campaign for Valencia, who have picked up just 27 points from their 25 La Liga matches to occupy 14th position in the table.

Los Che are only five points clear of the relegation zone heading into Friday's clash, while they have lost 10 times in the league this season, including a 3-0 defeat away to Getafe last time out.

Javi Gracia's side have only suffered three league defeats on their own patch this season, which is far from a disastrous record, but they will be facing a Villarreal side that have lost just twice on their travels and four times overall, with only leaders Atletico suffering fewer defeats this term.

Valencia have not actually finished lower than 12th in La Liga since the 1987-88 campaign, when they claimed 14th, and improvement will be needed across the board in the final weeks of the season if they are to push towards the top half of the division.

Villarreal manager Unai Emery pictured in December 2020© Reuters

Villarreal, meanwhile, will enter Friday's contest off the back of a 2-0 defeat at home to Atletico on Sunday, with an own goal from Alfonso Pedraza and second-half Joao Felix effort allowing the league leaders to triumph.

The Yellow Submarine are actually on a seven-game winless run in Spain's top flight, which has seen them drop down to seventh position in the table, two points behind sixth-placed Real Betis and five points behind fifth-placed Real Sociedad, who are actually now just six points off the top four.

Unai Emery's side, as mentioned, have only lost four league games this season but have managed just eight wins, with too many draws (13) preventing them from pushing towards the Champions League positions.

Villarreal need to address their league form if they are to secure a top-six finish, but the Europa League is certainly a distraction, with the Spanish outfit preparing for a two-legged last-16 tie with Dynamo Kiev.

El Submarino Amarillo have been victorious in their last two league games with Valencia, including a 2-1 win on home soil earlier this season, but they suffered a 2-1 loss in the corresponding match last term.

Valencia La Liga form: DDDLDL
Valencia form (all competitions): DLWDWL

Villarreal La Liga form: DDDLDL
Villarreal form (all competitions): DLWDWL


Team News

Villarreal's Gerard Moreno celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates against Real Madrid on November 21, 2020© Reuters

Valencia will again be without the services of Denis Cheryshev through injury, while Mouctar Diakhaby is suspended due to the red card that he picked up against Getafe.

Head coach Gracia is expected to shuffle his pack for Friday's contest, with Hugo Guillamon, Kevin Gameiro and Goncalo Guedes all pushing for spots in the starting XI.

Yunus Musah and Lee Kang-in could drop out of the side following the defeat to Getafe, but Carlos Soler, Daniel Wass and Uros Racic should retain their positions in midfield.

As for Villarreal, Francis Coquelin, Alberto Moreno, Mario Gaspar and Vicente Iborra remain unavailable for selection through injury, but the visitors did not pick up any fresh issues against Atletico.

Emery is likely to make changes from the side that started against the league leaders, with Pervis Estupinan and Fer Nino both in line to feature in the first XI.

Moi Gomez should keep his spot alongside Gerard Moreno in the final third of the field, while Dani Parejo and Manu Trigueros are almost certain to feature in midfield.

Valencia possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Correia, Guillamon, Gabriel, Gaya; Wass, Soler, Racic, Guedes; Gomez, Gameiro

Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Estupinan; Trigueros, Capoue, Parejo; M Gomez, Gerard, Nino


SM words green background

We say: Valencia 1-1 Villarreal

Villarreal need to return to winning ways as they bid to stay in touch with the top six, but Valencia should also be fired up to secure all three points; we would not be surprised to see an away win here but have just backed a low-scoring draw as Valencia are unbeaten at home to the Yellow Submarine since 2017.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:data


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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 52.24%. A draw had a probability of 24.7% and a win for Valencia had a probability of 23.02%.

The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.66%) and 1-2 (9.57%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.76%), while for a Valencia win it was 1-0 (7.23%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood.


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rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid29226164204472
2Barcelona29197360342664
3GironaGirona29195559342562
4Athletic Bilbao29168550262456
5Atletico MadridAtletico29174854342055
6Real Sociedad291210742311146
7Real BetisBetis29101273433142
8Valencia28117103232040
9Villarreal29108114751-438
10Getafe2991193742-538
11Las PalmasLas Palmas29107122932-337
12Osasuna29106133343-1036
13AlavesAlaves2988132635-932
14Mallorca29612112535-1030
15Rayo Vallecano29611122538-1329
16Sevilla29610133644-828
17Celta Vigo2969143244-1227
18CadizCadiz29313132040-2022
19Granada2828183058-2814
20Almeria29110182857-2913

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