Champions League-chasing Villarreal will look to claim a fourth consecutive victory when they welcome relegation-threatened Leganes to the Estadio de la Ceramica on Wednesday.
Leganes, who are languishing in the drop zone, will look to boost their survival hopes by claiming back-to-back victories.
Match preview
Villarreal are hoping to secure Champions League football for the first time since qualifying via their Europa League triumph in 2020-21.
Having collected 61 points from 35 matches, the Yellow Submarine are sitting in the fifth and final Champions League spot, leaving them just one point adrift of fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao and three points better off than Real Betis in sixth position.
The Yellow Submarine have built significant momentum in recent times, having put together a three-game winning run since losing 3-0 away to Celta Vigo on March 23.
Villarreal recorded back-to-back home wins against Espanyol and Osasuna, before they claimed a dramatic 1-0 victory in Saturday’s away clash against Girona courtesy of Karl Etta Eyong‘s 89th-minute effort.
After recording a third straight win, Marcelino‘s side will now be looking to record four consecutive La Liga victories since beating Real Sociedad, Granada, Real Betis and Valencia in a four-match run in February/March 2024.
They have fancy their chances of achieving that feat, having won five of their previous six top-flight meetings with Leganes, including a thrilling win in December’s clash at Butarque, where they came from behind on two occasions to record a 5-2 victory.
Leganes gave their survival bid some much-needed impetus with a 3-2 victory in Sunday’s home clash against Espanyol.
Seydouba Cisse opened the scoring before 18-year-old attacker Yan Diomande scored his first La Liga goal to give Leganes a healthy two-goal lead at the break.
Borja Jimenez‘s side appeared to be on course to enjoy a comfortable afternoon when a Marash Kumbulla own goal made it 3-0 just past the hour mark, but that effort ultimately proved to be decisive, as Espanyol scored in the 79th and the 98th minute to make Leganes work hard for all three points.
That victory ended the club’s eight-game winless run, although they are now unbeaten in four after playing out three consecutive draws ahead of Sunday’s narrow win, leaving them in 18th place and just one point adrift of Alaves with three games left to play against Villarreal, Las Palmas and Real Valladolid.
While they celebrated their sixth home league win at the weekend, Los Pepineros have won just one of their 17 La Liga away matches this season (D9, L7), with the sole victory taking place in December’s clash against Barcelona.
As they look to claim their second away win in Wednesday’s fixture, the visitors may draw inspiration from the 2-1 victory they picked up in their most recent trip to Estadio de la Ceramica in March 2020.
Team News
Villarreal remain without the services of defender Raul Albiol and winger Ilias Akhomach, while Kiko Femenia and Thierno Barry are doubts due to calf and hamstring problems respectively.
Etta Eyong will likely have to settle for a place among the substitutes despite coming off the bench to score in just his second La Liga appearance for Villarreal at the weekend.
However, Marcelino could still decide to make a couple of changes in a bid to freshen up his side, with Alfonso Pedraza and Dani Parejo both pushing for starting spots.
Leganes remain without the defensive duo of Borna Barisic and Enric Franquesa, who are both sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
Javi Hernandez could return to the starting lineup after serving a one-match ban at the weekend for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Attacker Juan Cruz was not risked on Sunday after struggling with a minor injury issue, and after being an unused substitute, there is uncertainty surrounding his level of involvement in Wednesday’s fixture.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Luiz Junior; Navarro, Foyth, Costa, Pedraza; Yeremy, Comesana, Pareja, Baena; Pepe, Ayoze,
Leganes possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Rosier, Tapia, Saenz; Altimira, Cisse, Neyou, Hernandez; Raba, Diomande, Munir
We say: Villarreal 3-1 Leganes
Leganes may be unbeaten in four matches, but we think that promising run of form will come to an end against a Villarreal side that will be in a confident mood after taking maximum points from their last three games, including their previous two home outings.
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