La Liga preview and odds: Valencia vs Villarreal

Published on: 30/04/2016

La Liga preview and odds: Valencia vs Villarreal

May 01, 2016 20:30pm - Estadio de Mestalla

La Liga

Valencia will be looking to cement their place in the top of eight of La Liga when Champions League hopefuls Villarreal pay a visit to La Mestalla on Sunday.

Valencia on the rise

Valencia`s revival under new boss Paco Ayestaran has lifted them to eighth place in the league table. With seventh-ranked Sevilla a further eight points ahead, that position is the highest that they can realistically hope for this season.

Los Che come into this game on the back of a four-game unbeaten run that included wins at home to Sevilla and Eibar, and away to Barcelona. In their last outing they were held to a 2-2 draw in the capital by Getafe.

Villarreal boosted by Euro triumph

Villarreal bounced back from a three-game winless streak in the league by edging 1-0 past Liverpool in the first leg of thei Europa League semi-final. They will be hoping to carry that momentum into this game as they seek to secure their place in the top four.

The Yellow submarine are just four points ahead of fifth-ranked Celta de Vigo with three games left to play. They have only won one of their last eight away games (at Eibar), and have lost three of their last four.

Team news

Jose Gaya, Sofiane Feghouli, Pablo Piatti, Denis Cheryshev and Zakaria Bakkali are all injured and unavailable for selection for the home side.

Meanwhile, the visitors also have injury concerns with Nahuel Laiva and Leo Baptistao still out of action.

Recent form (League)

Valencia: DWWWL

Villarreal: DLLWW

Betting odds and tips

Villarreal have not been great on the road but will be full of confidence after beating Liverpool in midweek. However, Valencia have been transformed in recent weeks and will provide a stiff test for their rivals from up the coast.

You can back the home win at 23/20 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 30/04/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (30/04/2016 16:44:23) but are subject to change.