Fresh from booking their spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Villarreal will resume their La Liga campaign away to Getafe on Saturday night.
The Yellow Submarine are currently seventh in Spain's top flight, eight points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad, while Getafe sit 14th, just four points clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Getafe have been present in La Liga since 2017, while they have only spent one season out of the top flight in Spain since 2004, so it would be a huge surprise if the club were relegated this term.
The Deep Blue Ones are involved in a fight towards the bottom of the division, though, picking up just 32 points from their 31 matches, which has left them 14th, just four points ahead of the relegation zone.
Getafe managed to pick up five points from their three league games against Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca between March 12 and April 2, but they will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 loss at Real Madrid.
Quique Sanchez Flores's side have a relatively kind run of fixtures between now and the end of the campaign, but they still have to face both Real Betis and Barcelona, and the capital outfit will not want to head into their final match of the season against Elche needing to pick up a result to retain their top-flight status.
Getafe's home form this season has been relatively strong, picking up 25 points from their 15 matches, and they will be welcoming a Villarreal outfit that have found it difficult on their travels, winning just three of their 15 league matches away from home.
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Villarreal will take on Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League, having claimed a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their quarter-final on Tuesday, which saw them progress to the final four with a 2-1 aggregate success.
The Yellow Submarine only qualified for the Champions League by winning last season's Europa League, and they are in the semi-finals of Europe's leading competition for the first time since 2006, when Arsenal beat them 1-0 on aggregate.
Unai Emery's side have struggled to show consistency in the league in recent weeks, though, winning just one of their last five matches, suffering three defeats in the process.
Villarreal played out a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao last weekend, which followed back-to-back losses against Cadiz and Levante, and they are currently in seventh spot in the table, eight points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad and just one point ahead of eighth-placed Athletic Bilbao.
Emery's team are actually only five points ahead of 10th-placed Osasuna, so they are facing the strange possibility of battling to secure a top-half finish in their domestic league while fighting for success in the biggest European cup competition on the planet.
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Team News
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Getafe will again be missing Jaime Mata and Sabit Abdulai on Saturday through injury, while Djene Dakonam is suspended due to the booking that he picked up in the defeat to Real Madrid last time out.
Dakonam's absence will open the door for Erick Cabaco to feature in a back three, while Mauro Arambarri is back from a suspension of his own and should return to the team in central midfield.
Head coach Sanchez has options for change in the forward areas, but it seems likely that a 5-3-2 formation will again see Borja Mayoral join Enes Unal in a front two, while Carles Alena should also retain his spot in the XI.
As for Villarreal, Alberto Moreno remains a long-term absentee with a serious knee injury, but the visitors are otherwise in excellent shape for this weekend's contest.
Pau Torres was suspended for the league contest with Athletic Bilbao last time out but is available here, and Emery is expected to select a strong side, as the first leg of the Champions League semi-final with Liverpool does not take place until April 27.
That said, there will still be a number of changes from the XI that started against Bayern during the week, with the likes of Aissa Mandi, Manu Trigueros, Samuel Chukwueze, Yeremi Pino and Paco Alcacer in line for starts.
Raul Albiol, Giovani Lo Celso, Dani Parejo and Arnaut Danjuma are expected to be among those given a rest following the exertions of the clash with Bayern.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Cabaco, Mitrovic, Cuenca, Olivera; Maksimovic, Arambarri, Alena; Mayoral, Unal
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Gaspar, Mandi, Torres, Pedraza; Chukwueze, Capoue, Trigueros, Pino; G Moreno, Alcacer
We say: Getafe 1-1 Villarreal
Villarreal will need to switch their focus back to La Liga after the high of the Champions League, and they will be coming up against a Getafe side battling to remain in Spain's top flight. Villarreal, on paper, are the favourites, but Getafe might just want this a little bit more, so we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw.
Matt Law
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 41.83%. A win for Getafe had a probability of 30.63% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.48%) and 0-2 (7.88%). The likeliest Getafe win was 1-0 (9.92%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.97%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Villarreal would win this match.
