Preview: Racing de Santander vs Villarreal - prediction, team news, lineups

Racing de Santander will begin life back in Spain's top flight with a contest against Villarreal at Campos de Sport de El Sardinero on Sunday afternoon.

The Green and Whites are the reigning Segunda Division champions, which saw them secure promotion back to this level, while Villarreal finished third in La Liga last term.

Match preview

Racing have not operated in Spain's top flight since the 2011-12 campaign, and they have spent time in the third tier since then, but the Green and Whites won the 2025-26 Segunda Division to secure a return to La Liga for the new season.

Jose Alberto's side played six pre-season friendlies and only managed to win one of those fixtures, which proved to be a 4-1 success over Sporting Gijon on August 7.

Racing have three La Liga matches before the end of August, heading to Getafe after this game before ending the month at home to Elche.

The Green and Whites have made seven signings this summer, including Julen Agirrezabala from Athletic Bilbao, while they have also managed to bring back veteran midfielder Sergio Canales, who has returned to the club where he started his career.

Racing have faced Villarreal on 33 previous occasions and have only managed to post eight wins, but they triumphed in their last meeting - a 2-1 success in the last-32 stage of the Copa del Rey last season.

Villarreal finished third in Spain's top flight last season, with a successful campaign seeing them pick up 72 points from 38 matches, and they were 18 points clear of sixth-placed Celta Vigo, comfortably securing Champions League qualification.

The Yellow Submarine are now under the management of Inigo Perez, who left Rayo Vallecano to replace Marcelino, so there will be a fresh look to the club this season.

It has been an incredibly quiet summer for Villarreal on the transfer front, with the club's only signing to this point being experienced goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi from RB Leipzig.

There have been a number of exits, though, including Roman Terrats and Alfonso Pedraza, and there are expected to be more additions before the market closes.

Villarreal will be looking for another top-four finish in Spain's top flight this season, while they will also be targeting a huge improvement in the Champions League, having only managed to pick up one point from their eight matches in the 2025-26 league stage.

Racing de Santander pre-season form:

Villarreal form (all competitions):

Team News

Racing could be without the services of Giorgi Guliashvili through injury, but the home side are otherwise in strong shape for the clash against Villarreal.

There will be some debutants on display in this match, with Asier Villalibre likely to be among them; the 28-year-old is the strong favourite to lead the line here.

There is also expected to be a spot in the starting side for highly-rated defender Jorge Salinas, who continues to be linked with the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona.

Villarreal, meanwhile, could have a fully-fit squad for this match, with the club not reporting any injury problems at this stage of their preparations.

There is expected to be a spot through the middle for Georges Mikautadze, with the 25-year-old bidding to build on the 15 goals that he scored during his first season at the club.

Nicolas Pepe is also likely to feature from the first whistle, in addition to the experienced Gerard Moreno.

Racing de Santander possible starting lineup:

Eriksson; Mantilla, Felipe, Gonzalez, Salinas; Puerta, Gueye; Martin, Canales, Vicente; Villalibre

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Junior; Mourino, Foyth, Veiga, Romero; Gueye, Comesana; Pepe, G Moreno, Moleiro; Mikautadze

We say: Racing de Santander 1-2 Villarreal

This is a tough start for Racing given that Villarreal were the third-best team in the league last season. We are expecting it to be close in terms of the scoreline, but the Yellow Submarine should be able 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.