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

Villarreal will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins in Spain's top flight when they continue their campaign with a clash against Girona on Monday evening.

The Yellow Submarine are third in the La Liga table, one point ahead of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, while Girona are 14th, five points outside of the relegation zone.

Match preview

Girona were 3-0 winners over Athletic Bilbao in their last match on home soil in the middle of March, but they entered the recent international break off the back of a 1-0 loss at Osasuna.

The Catalan outfit currently sit in 14th spot in the La Liga table, five points outside of the relegation zone, so there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to securing their top-flight status.

Michel's team have picked up 19 points from their 14 home league games this season, and they will be looking for revenge against Villarreal on Monday night, having suffered a 5-0 defeat when the two teams locked horns for the reverse match back in August.

Girona have only managed to win five of their previous 18 matches against Villarreal, and they suffered a 1-0 defeat when the pair locked horns in the corresponding game last term.

The Catalan outfit last beat Villarreal in September 2023, but they have not managed to overcome the Yellow Submarine in front of their own supporters since December 2012.

© Imago

Villarreal, meanwhile, entered the March international break off the back of a 3-1 home success over Real Sociedad, which made it five wins from their last eight league games.

Marcelino's side currently sit in third spot in the La Liga table, boasting a record of 18 wins, four draws and seven defeats from their 29 matches to collect 58 points.

Villarreal are one point ahead of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid and 14 clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, so they are in an excellent position to secure more Champions League football next term.

The Yellow Submarine have the fourth-best away record in Spain's top flight this season, picking up 21 points from 14 matches, recording six wins in the process.

Villarreal will certainly have their sights set on third this term, which would represent their highest finish at this level of football since claiming second in 2007-08.

Girona La Liga form:

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Villarreal La Liga form:

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Team News

Girona will be without the services of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ricard Artero, Bryan Gil, Juan Carlos, Portu and Donny van de Beek through injury on Monday night.

Cristhian Stuani, who has missed his side's last four matches with a muscular problem, will also need to be assessed before a final decision can be made.

Thomas Lemar only featured as a late substitute against Osasuna last time out, but the experienced attacker is likely to come back into the starting XI here.

As for Villarreal, Pau Cabanes, Logan Costa and Juan Foyth will miss the match through injury.

Ayoze Perez needs to be assessed, having missed out last time out against Real Sociedad, and it is likely that the Spaniard will be on the bench on Monday night.

Head coach Marcelino could name the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Real Sociedad, including a spot down the right for Nicolas Pepe, with Gerard Moreno also likely to keep hold of his position in the final third of the field.

Girona possible starting lineup:

Gazzaniga; Rincon, Reis, Blind, Martinez; Beltran, Witsel; Tsygankov, Ounahi, Lemar; Vanat

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Junior; Mourino, Navarro, Veiga, Pedraza; Pepe, Comesana, Gueye, Moleiro; Moreno, Mikautadze

We say: Girona 1-2 Villarreal

Girona are more than capable of making this a very tricky match for Villarreal, and we are expecting it to be close on Monday night, but the visitors have enough quality to navigate their way to all three points.

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