Villarreal vs Getafe

Estadio de la Ceramica is the venue as European hopefuls Villarreal tackle relegation-battling Getafe.

Without the distraction of European football for the first time since 2019/20, Villarreal’s bid to return to continental action has been off to a promising start, with Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side boasting a 56% win ratio after the opening nine La Liga rounds (W5, D2, L2). ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Real Madrid on the stroke of the international break, giving up a two-game winning streak in their first scoreless outing this season. However, they’ve been firing on all cylinders at home, netting an average of 2.5 goals per game across their four La Liga matches this season (W2, D1, L1). Unfortunately, their defensive frailties have been Villarreal’s scourge, contributing to a league-high total average of 5.25 goals per home match (GF:10, GA:11).

In the meantime, Getafe’s games have been quite the opposite, producing an average of only 1.44 goals per game! Much of the blame falls on Jose Bordalas’ misfiring frontline, which has averaged only 0.66 goals per match. Indeed, the visitors have alternated between drawing a blank and scoring once across their four winless away league outings this season (D1, L3). Getafe’s barren run on the road looks destined to continue, considering they have failed to beat Villarreal in any of their last 11  La Liga H2Hs (D4, L7). With only two points separating them from the bottom three at the start of this round, El Geta will be desperate to defy their perennial struggles at La Ceramica, where they last won in January 2019 (D1, L4).