La Liga, Monday, 03.03.2021 at 9:00 PM
At the top, three teams seem to be fighting it out for the title, but what is happening behind them? Villarreal FC is eyeing up fourth place, which would qualify them for the Champions League!
In my Villarreal Espanyol tip, the Yellow Submarine faces an opponent that doesn’t do well away from home. So I’ll have to explain to you in the best possible way why I’m still betting on an “away win at handicap +2”!
Undefeated in six games – it’s the longest streak of this season! Villarreal are slowly but surely getting closer to fourth place, with only four points separating them from the top four.
Reassuringly, they already have a nine-point lead over sixth place, so if they keep their form constant, they should be safe from the drop zone. But what the Yellow Submarine is definitely missing is a winning streak.
Four times there was a triple in a double pack, but it has never been more than two in a row. At least three of the last four games have been won, but I can’t see any real pattern.
The team can really turn on a win, beating Real Valladolid 5-1, Mallorca 4-0, Leganes 5-2 or Celta Vigo 4-3. At the same time, they can lose 0-0 or only draw 1-1 against the relegation candidates from Valencia.
Whenever you think you have this team figured out, another result comes along that doesn’t match the previous one. What is definitely strong: Villarreal have not conceded a goal before half-time in seven games.
This is particularly noteworthy because twelve of the first 18 rounds had just that to offer. Seven of their last nine home games have also seen them keep a clean sheet at half-time.
So far, so good – has Villarreal always kept a clean sheet here? They have actually only managed to do so TWICE at home! In this respect, the bet “Espanyol will score in the second half” might be interesting for you.
At Betano, it has odds of 2.45, which is definitely in the profitable range. In addition, you can get up to 100 euros extra with the code “VIPANGEBOT” if you want to take the Betano bonus.
Villarreal have never gone into the home dressing room with a 0-0 lead, something always happens in the first half. There were 23 goals in the first 45 minutes, 24 in the second, so it never gets boring here.
28 goals in any case represent the second-best figure behind Real Madrid (31). Ayoze Perez is a real guarantee of victory for his team. He has scored eleven times and has only lost three games in which he has scored.
Since he scored twice in the first leg against Espanyol, in the narrow 2-1 victory, you should have him on your list for a goal bet. At Bet365, the corresponding odds would be 2.50.
In the aforementioned first leg, the Yellow Submarine fell behind but quickly turned it around. It was their fourth win in a row, and I can also report that home games against Espanyol have not been boring lately.
A few days ago, they won 1-0 against Alaves. What was so special about that? Quite simply, it was their first ever away win! The decisive goal was scored, tellingly, just before the final whistle.
1-0, 1-2, 1-1, 0-1, 0-1, their last few away appearances have been marked by a great deal of bad luck. However, their own offense, which has only scored seven times away from home – only one of which was in the first half!
BUT: as everyone knows, the squirrel feeds laboriously, but has always managed to score an own goal in three away games. What’s more, Espanyol have also scored in five appearances at the Ceramica.
Villarreal are a spectacle, without a doubt! Those lucky enough to be regulars at the Ceramica are to be envied. The Yellow Submarine concedes a correspondingly high number of goals, but also scores very often.
Espanyol can’t keep up with that, God knows, the guests arrive with seven away goals. However, I have noticed that there has been an improvement here and that there has been no clear defeat since November.
In this respect, I can well imagine that Villarreal will have to fight harder than expected. They also had a hard time against Valencia and Las Palmas recently, so I can confidently predict:
Espanyol “wins” with a handicap of +2!
