Contents
- Competition: La Liga
- Date: Thursday, 26th September 2024
- Kickoff: 18:00 UK / 19:00 CEST
- Venue: RCDE Stadium (Cornella de Llobregat)
After one year of absence, Espanyol returned to La Liga. For most of the 21st century, the team from Catalunya was a mid-table team in the strongest Spanish league, but in the last couple of seasons, Espanyol have made a couple of trips to La Liga 2. In the first six rounds of the new season, Manolo Gonzalez's team collected a solid seven points. In the previous game, they lost 4-1 on the road against Real Madrid. The home side finished with xG of 5.47, so it was unrealistic for Espanyol to get anything from Santiago Bernabeu.
Since returning to La Liga in 2013, Villarreal, in only one season, didn't finish as the top-half team. The start of the 2024/25 season was encouraging, as Villarreal's first defeat came in the sixth round. After 11 points from the first five matches, Marcelino's team lost last weekend 5-1 at home against Barcelona. The difference between the teams probably wasn't that big, but the guest's outstanding efficiency was deciding.
Espanyol vs Villarreal pick: Over 2.5 goals
Both teams are scoring well lately. Espanyol scored six goals in the last three matches, while Villarreal scored 12 goals in six La Liga rounds so far. We should expect three or more goals in the upcoming tie at RCDE Stadium.
Espanyol vs Villarreal Head to Head (H2H) stats
-
Villarreal
4 : 2
Espanyol
La Liga
-
Espanyol
0 : 1
Villarreal
La Liga
-
Villarreal
5 : 1
Espanyol
La Liga
-
Espanyol
0 : 0
Villarreal
La Liga
-
Villarreal
1 : 2
Espanyol
La Liga
Espanyol team news
Espanyol lost 4-1 against Real Madrid, but the head coach, Manolo Gonzalez, doesn't think the final score reflects everything seen on the pitch. He said, "At least three of the four goals were avoidable. The result is quite exaggerated, considering what the match was like. When you take the lead on a ground like this, and these goals happen, it is difficult to win. We made big mistakes, but up until the 75th minute, we had a very complete game."
Edu Exposito is injured and will not play on Thursday against Villarreal.
Last matches of Espanyol
-
Real Madrid
4 : 1
Espanyol
La Liga
-
Espanyol
3 : 2
Alaves
La Liga
-
Espanyol
2 : 1
Rayo Vallecano
La Liga
-
Atletico Madrid
0 : 0
Espanyol
La Liga
-
Espanyol
0 : 1
Real Sociedad
La Liga
Espanyol lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Joan Garcia
Defenders
-
23
Omar El Hilali
-
4
Marash Kambulla
-
6
Leandro Cabrera
-
22
Carlos Romero
Midfielders
-
12
Alvaro Tejero
-
20
Alex Kral
-
10
Pol Lozano
-
17
Jofre Carreras
Forwards
-
16
Walid Cheddira
-
7
Javi Puado
Villarreal team news
Villarreal lost 5-1 at home against Barcelona, but the head coach, Marcelino, was still proud of his players. After the game, he said, "Both teams had a lot of chances, but Bar?a were more accurate than us. I'm satisfied with the way the team competed against a great Bar?a. They scored two goals from two rebounds, but that's not good or bad luck. We need to do a better job of resolving those chances."
Villarreal will be without injured Willy Kambwala, Gerard Moreno, Juan Foyth, and Alfonso Pedraza on Thursday evening against Espanyol.
Last matches of Villarreal
-
Villarreal
1 : 5
FC Barcelona
La Liga
-
Mallorca
1 : 2
Villarreal
La Liga
-
Valencia
1 : 1
Villarreal
La Liga
-
Villarreal
4 : 3
Celta Vigo
La Liga
-
Sevilla
1 : 2
Villarreal
La Liga
Villarreal lineup
Goalkeeper
-
13
Diego Conde
Defenders
-
17
Kiko Femenia
-
2
Logan Costa
-
4
Eric Bailly
-
23
Sergi Cardona
Midfielders
-
21
Yeremi Pino
-
14
Santi Comesana
-
10
Daniel Parejo
-
16
Alex Baena
Forwards
-
19
Nicolas Pepe
-
22
Ayoze Perez
4 Reasons why we should see three or more goals in this match
- Espanyol scored six goals in the last three matches
- Espanyol went over 2.5 goals in each of the previous three games
- Villarreal scored 12 goals in six league rounds
- Villarreal went over 2.5 goals in five of the last six matches
Main prediction Espanyol - Villarreal
Over 2.5 goals
During 15 years of betting, Nemanja gradually improved his skills to help others bet wisely. He's been playing basketball on a youth level, but is interested basically in every sport, especially football and tennis.
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Additional predictions
Espanyol & Villarreal current standing in La Liga
Regular Season | P | W | D | L |
G - A
|
GD | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FC Barcelona | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 23 - 5 | +18 | 21 |
2 | Real Madrid | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16 - 5 | +11 | 17 |
3 | Athletic Club | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 - 7 | +4 | 13 |
4 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 - 3 | +7 | 12 |
5 | Mallorca | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 - 5 | +1 | 11 |
6 | Villarreal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 - 13 | -1 | 11 |
7 | Osasuna | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 - 11 | -3 | 11 |
8 | Deportivo Alavés | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 - 10 | +1 | 10 |
9 | Celta de Vigo | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 - 13 | +1 | 9 |
10 | Rayo Vallecano | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 - 7 | +1 | 9 |
11 | Real Betis | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 - 6 | 0 | 8 |
12 | Girona | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 - 10 | -2 | 8 |
13 | Sevilla | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 - 9 | -2 | 8 |
14 | Espanyol | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 - 9 | -3 | 7 |
15 | Leganés | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 - 8 | -4 | 6 |
16 | Real Sociedad | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 - 7 | -4 | 5 |
17 | Valencia | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 - 10 | -5 | 5 |
18 | Real Valladolid | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 - 15 | -12 | 5 |
19 | Getafe | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 - 6 | -3 | 4 |
20 | Las Palmas | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 - 12 | -5 | 2 |