Villareal and Valencia meet in the first round of the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. The confrontation will be held on Thursday at 20:00 on Estadio de la Ceramica.
In the current season in La Liga, the two bands have already played their two duels. In Stage 5, Villareal and Valencia have finished the duel on Estadio de la Ceramica, score 0-0, while in return, the “bats” have a definite 3-0.
This will not be the first direct encounter in the Europa League. In 2004, when the competition was called the UEFA Cup, the two teams met in the semifinals, the double of which Valencia won the win (0-0 in the away and 1-0 on the ground), the champion of that edition .
Twenty-two times the two bands have met on this field in all competitions, 11 wins from the hosts, while the guests have only imposed 5 times, the last time in 2017 (La Liga), with the score of 2- 0.
The band, prepared by Javier Calleja Revilla, had real difficulties this season to maintain its own intact gates. In 10 of the last 11 home games played in all competitions, Villareal received a goal every time, in 6 of them winning at least 2 goals. In the last game played on Estadio de la Ceramica, the “yellow submarine” received 4 goals from Barcelona, but what is appreciated is that the hosts did not lose that duel, one that ended when Villareal led with 4-2 to 90 minutes, when Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez saved a point for the guests.
After a series of 17 games in a row without defeat in all competitions, Valencia stumbled on the field at Rayo Vallecano, where they yielded with the score of 0-2, the game in which the “bats” were dominated by most of the offensive chapters. In the European Championship this season (Champions League and Europa League), Valencia suffered a single failure, 0-1 on the Juventus field, the balance in the other four games being 3 draws and one victory.
Bruno Soriano, Manu Trigueros and Miguelon (injured) are host absences, while Rubén Sobrino (injured) and Carlos Soler (suspended) will not play for the guests.
Probable teams
Villareal: Fernandez – Gonzalez, Mori, Ruiz – Gaspar, Caseres, Iborra, Fornals, Pedraza – Bacca, Moreno;
Valencia: Neto – Piccini, Garay, Diakhaby, Gaya – Wass, Parejo, Kondogbia, Cheryshev – Moreno, Mina;
Considering that it is an advanced phase of a European competition, we expect both bands to be extremely cautious. The last 4 direct duels in Villareal ended with a maximum of two goals scored, which we anticipate will happen again this time.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.82
