La Liga's Yellow Submarines will do battle at El Madrigal on Wednesday night, as Champions League-chasing Villarreal host relegation-threatened Cadiz.
Villarreal cemented fifth place in the table with a last-gasp victory at Girona last time out, while Cadiz enhanced their survival hopes with a pivotal win over Real Valladolid.
Match preview
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Gerard Moreno netted a 94th-minute winner as Villarreal snatched a 2-1 victory over Girona on Saturday, with Nicolas Jackson producing an excellent solo run and cross to set up the clinching goal at the death.
As a result, the Castellon club find themselves 10 points inside the top six and five points shy of fourth-placed Real Sociedad, meaning that European football will return to El Madrigal for a fourth successive season, while a spot in the Champions League is still attainable.
Thanks to last weekend's triumph, Quique Setien's men head into Wednesday's clash on a five-game unbeaten run, having picked up four wins and one draw since a narrow 2-1 defeat to Sevilla at the end of last month.
Better still, Villarreal have lost only two of their previous 13 La Liga encounters, securing nine victories along the way, and they have also found the back of the net in each of their last 14 league matches, scoring at least two goals on nine occasions.
Having won each of their last three home league games – and five of their previous seven – Setien's men will back themselves to notch another victory at El Madrigal on Wednesday after bagging 12 goals across their past three home wins.
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Meanwhile, Cadiz clinched a much-needed 2-0 victory over relegation rivals Real Valladolid last time out, with Theo Bongonda bagging a brace for Sergio Gonzalez's side, who now sit three points clear of the drop zone with three matches remaining.
Given that Cadiz had suffered five defeats in eight games before the win against Valladolid – including a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Atletico Madrid earlier this month – the Andalusia outfit will be pleased to have stopped the rot.
Still, there is no hiding the fact that Cadiz have managed to win three of their previous 12 matches, so they remain in the relegation battle as the season nears its end, with second-bottom Espanyol trailing Gonzalez's side by just four points.
It is also worth noting that Cadiz are the second-lowest scorers in the division, having netted a measly 28 goals in 35 games this term, while Gonzalez's men have bagged only seven goals across their past nine La Liga outings.
After picking up a solitary victory in their previous nine away league matches – taking six road points from a possible 27 since defeating Valencia at the Mestalla back in January – Cadiz will need to be at their best to halt Villarreal's hot streak.
Team News
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Villarreal will be without Francis Coquelin for the remainder of the campaign after the former Arsenal midfielder sustained an ACL injury, so Etienne Capoue and Ramon Terrats are expected to continue in the middle of the park.
Veterans Raul Albiol and Jose Luis Morales are also sidelined due to knee injuries, meaning that Jorge Cuenca and Aissa Mandi will resume their partnership at centre-back.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Nicolas Jackson is likely to lead the line, while Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze will aim to enhance his tally of 13 goals and 11 assists as he supports Jackson in attack.
Cadiz could be without as many as five injured players for the trip to Castellon, with Victor Chust, Alex Fernandez, Jon Ander Garrido, Roger Marti and Brian Ocampo expected to miss Wednesday's clash.
Having scored twice last time out, Theo Bongonda will continue to operate alongside Sergi Guardiola and Ruben Sobrino behind lone striker Chris Ramos, who has played a key role since arriving at the club in January.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Reina; Foyth, Mandi, Cuenca, Alfonso; Terrats, Capoue; Chukwueze, Baena, Pino; Jackson
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Hernandez, Mere, Espino; Escalante, Alacaraz; Bongonda, Guardiola, Sobrino; Ramos
We say: Villarreal 3-0 Cadiz
Given Villarreal's recent run of high-scoring home wins, we expect Setien's men to secure a fifth victory in six matches at the expense of Cadiz, who are on course to suffer a third consecutive away defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Morris
