Villarreal v Valencia
15:00
Villarreal couldn’t follow up their impressive home draw against Barca as they could only manage a goalless draw at Deportivo as they look set to struggle for goals with Soldado out injured and Bakambu at the African Cup of Nations. Valencia, meanwhile, picked up their first win in nine as they beat Espanyol at home, and though they remain down in 17th, they’re four points clear of the relegation zone and have a game in hand.
Villarreal have won six of their nine home games, including against the likes of Atletico, Celta Vigo and Sociedad. Their record when hosting bottom-half teams is an impressive W9-D2-L3 since the start of last season and it’s worth noting that five of the last seven of these wins were without conceding and four were either 1-0 or 2-0 scorelines.
While they’ve managed eight points from their four trips to the current bottom-six sides to date, Valencia have lost their other five road games against top-half teams, though each of those defeats were by just a single goal. Indeed, they lost this fixture 1-0 last term and we fancy a repeat could be on the cards given Villarreal’s lack of attacking options at the moment.
