Getafe and Villarreal square off at Coliseum Alfonso Perez with just one point separating the Champions-League-chasing sides in the La Liga table.
However, both teams head into this potentially-crucial contest having failed to record maximum points over the weekend, allowing Sevilla to extend their advantage in fourth position.
Match preview
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Despite spending time in contention for the top six, both Getafe and Villarreal lost significant ground on Sevilla last weekend ahead of a potentially-pivotal showdown on Wednesday night.
At a time when Sevilla defeated Leganes by a 3-0 scoreline, significantly improving their goal difference, Getafe were held by Osasuna and Villarreal were thrashed by Barcelona.
Sevilla now hold a three-point lead over Villarreal, with a further point separating them to sixth-placed Getafe, while they also possess a better goal difference than both teams.
With just four matches remaining, it leaves the Azulones and El Submarino Amarillo in a position where they can ill-afford another defeat if they wish to feature in next season's Champions League.
Although they retain a similar advantage over seventh position, Real Sociedad's victory over Espanyol means that these two teams will also have to defend their top-six spot in the coming weeks.
Villarreal's 4-1 defeat at home to Barcelona came as somewhat of a surprise when taking into consideration the trajectory of both clubs in recent weeks.
However, with 13 points having been recorded from the five matches before that setback, Javier Calleja will hope that it was a minor blip ahead of attempting to extending their advantage over their next opponents.
His counterpart Jose Bordalas has witnessed Getafe record four draws from their last six matches, with six less points being achieved in comparison to their nearest rivals.
Getafe La Liga form: DDDWLD
Villarreal La Liga form: WWDWWL
Team News
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Bordalas will make at least one change to his starting lineup with Jorge Molina absent through suspension.
That should lead to Hugo Duro being brought into the starting lineup, while Chema is on standby to feature in defence if Xabier Etxeita fails a fitness test.
Villarreal boss Calleja has fitness concerns in attack with Paco Alcacer and Carlos Bacca both carrying minor injuries.
Javi Ontiveros is an alternative option should neither player be deemed ready to feature in the starting lineup.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Etxeita, Dakonam, Olivera; Nyom, Maksimovic, Arambarri, Cucurella; Duro, Mata
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, A.Moreno; Chukwueze, Iborra, Trigueros, Cazorla; Alcacer, R.Moreno
We say: Getafe 1-1 Villarreal
Having shipped four goals against Barcelona, Villarreal may take the cautious approach on Wednesday. However, goals have not been Getafe's strength over the past 11 months, and this game has every chance of ending in a low-scoring stalemate.
Darren Plant
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 38.52%. A win for Getafe had a probability of 34.2% and a draw had a probability of 27.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.21%) and 0-2 (6.96%). The likeliest Getafe win was 1-0 (10.17%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.92%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Villarreal would win this match.
