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

Both Valencia and Villarreal will be aiming to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they lock horns on Saturday afternoon.

Los Che will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with Athletic Bilbao, while Villarreal played out a goalless draw with Elche in their last fixture.

Match preview

Valencia have had a difficult start to the 2026-27 campaign, with just six points from their nine matches leaving them down in 19th spot in the La Liga table.

Los Che have won one, drawn three and lost five of their nine league games this term, and they have picked up two points from their last three games, drawing with Racing de Santander and Athletic in their last two.

Valencia's only victory of the campaign came away to Alaves in the middle of September, with Javier Aguirre still waiting for his first win since arriving as head coach.

The six-time Spanish champions have not actually overcome Villarreal since January 2024, with the Yellow Submarine unbeaten in the last five fixtures between the two sides.

Valencia suffered defeats to Villarreal in both league matches last season, losing 2-0 at Mestalla in October 2025 before the reverse fixture in February of this year ended 2-1 to the Yellow Submarine.

Villarreal will enter this match off the back of a 4-3 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League; the La Liga outfit actually led 2-0 at Anfield, but Andoni Iraola's side fought back to secure all three points.

Inigo Perez's side drew 0-0 with Elche in the league last time out, with that result following a 1-0 reverse to Real Madrid in their first game after the September/October international break.

The Yellow Submarine have a record of two wins, three draws and four defeats from their nine league matches this season, which has left them in 12th spot in the table.

Villarreal are already seven points behind fifth-placed Real Sociedad, which will be a concern at this stage of the campaign, with the team desperately needing to put together a consistent run of results.

Valencia La Liga form:

Villarreal La Liga form:

Villarreal form (all competitions):

Team News

Valencia will be without the services of Umar Sadiq, Sergi Canos and Diego Lopez through injury, while Dimitri Foulquier and Copete are regarded as fitness doubts at this stage.

Hugo Duro started through the middle against Athletic last time out, but Arnaut Danjuma could be moved forward one to feature as the false nine this weekend.

Such a change could potentially see Luis Rioja introduced into the starting team here.

As for Villarreal, Nicolas Pepe is not expected to be back on the field until the end of the month, having recently undergone an eye operation.

Carlos Romero and Nathan Saliba are both viewed as fitness doubts, but Tajon Buchanan is available again, having recovered from a hamstring injury.

There will be changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Liverpool, with Juan Foyth and Ayoze Perez set to be among those introduced into the XI.

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Dimitrievski; Maffeo, Tarrega, Haas, Gaya; Rodriguez; Raba, Pepelu, Guerra, Rioja; Danjuma

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Gulacsi; Freeman, Foyth, Veiga, Cardona; Akhomach, Comesana, Gueye, Moleiro; Mikautadze, Perez

We say: Valencia 1-2 Villarreal

Valencia will be the fresher of the two teams on Saturday, but Villarreal can call upon a lot of quality, and we just have a feeling that the Yellow Submarine will shade a close match here.

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