Fresh from booking their spot in the Europa League final, Villarreal will continue their La Liga campaign with a home match against an in-form Celta Vigo side on Sunday evening.
Villarreal are currently sixth in the table, one point behind fifth-placed Real Sociedad, while Celta, who have won their last two matches, occupy 10th position in Spain's top flight.
Match preview
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A goalless draw away to Arsenal in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday evening was enough for Villarreal to advance to the final courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate success.
The Yellow Submarine will take on Manchester United in the final of the European competition on May 26, and a win would bring them silverware, in addition to a spot in next season's Champions League.
Villarreal will not want to take their eye off of the ball in La Liga, though, as they bid to beat both Real Sociedad and Real Betis to fifth position. As it stands, Unai Emery's side are sixth, one point ahead of seventh-placed Betis and one point behind fifth-placed Real Sociedad, with all three teams on 34 matches.
The home side were victorious in the league last time out, overcoming struggling Getafe at Estadio de la Ceramica courtesy of a late goal from Yeremi Pino.
The Yellow Submarine have won seven of their 17 home league matches this term, but they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Celta in the corresponding match during the 2019-20 campaign.
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Celta will head into Sunday's clash full of confidence following two impressive home victories over Osasuna and Levante, which has allowed them to move into 10th position in the table.
The Sky Blues are currently just one point behind eighth-placed Granada and will certainly be eyeing their highest finish at this level of football since claiming sixth in 2015-16.
Celta have actually ended each of the last two La Liga seasons in 17th position, but they have no relegation fears at this stage of this campaign and will be looking up the division rather than down.
Eduardo Coudet's side, as mentioned, were winners in the corresponding match last season, but they have lost their last two matches with Villarreal, including a 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture back in January.
Just three league wins have been secured on their travels this term, but the Sky Blues have only lost six of their 17 La Liga fixtures on the road, which is just two more than Barcelona.
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Team News
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Villarreal will again be without the services of Vicente Iborra and Juan Foyth through injury, while Samuel Chukwueze will not be involved due to the problem that he suffered against Arsenal.
Manu Trigueros served a domestic suspension against Getafe last weekend but was in the side against the Gunners on Thursday and should be handed another start here.
Emery is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes for this match, but the likes of Carlos Bacca, Moi Gomez, Alberto Moreno and Sergio Asenjo are seemingly in line for starts.
As for Celta, Sergio Alvarez, Ruben Blanco, Emre Mor, Jeison Murillo and Renato Tapia are all on the sidelines through injury, while Joseph Aidoo is a major doubt.
There had also been concern over Iago Aspas, with the Spaniard battling a muscular problem, but he should be fit to start alongside Santi Mina in the final third of the field.
Tapia's absence could see Fran Beltran earn a start at the base of the midfield, while Nestor Araujo is in line for a start at centre-back if Aidoo cannot prove his fitness in the lead up to kickoff.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, A Moreno; Parejo, Capoue, Trigueros; G Moreno, Bacca, Gomez
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Mallo, Araujo, Fontan, Martin; Beltran; Mendez, Suarez, Nolito; Mina, Aspas
We say: Villarreal 2-1 Celta Vigo
Villarreal will be flying after booking their spot in the Europa League final, and we can see the Yellow Submarine shading a tight match here. Celta deserve a lot of respect for their form in the second half of the campaign, but we fancy a narrow home success on Sunday evening.
Top tip
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 50.62%. A draw had a probability of 25.1% and a win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 24.29%.
The most likely scoreline for a Villarreal win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.48%) and 2-0 (9.3%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.92%), while for a Celta Vigo win it was 0-1 (7.5%). The actual scoreline of 2-4 was predicted with a 0.4% likelihood.
