Villarreal vs Rayo Vallecano

Estadio de la Ceramica is the venue as Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano go head-to-head in an intricate La Liga fixture.

Fresh from booking their tickets for the Champions League knock-outs via an action-packed 3-2 win at Atalanta, Villarreal will be desperate to transfer that momentum to La Liga. Since eking out a 1-0 home win over relegation-threatened Getafe in early November, ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ have gone winless in their subsequent three league matches, losing the last two in a row. Sat only four points clear over 18th-placed Getafe, Villarreal look to be sinking without a trace after winning just 20% of their La Liga fixtures and scoring a measly average of 1.06 goals per game. Unai Emery’s men can at least find some confidence from the fact each of their three league victories this season have come on home soil, where they’ve won their last six La Liga H2Hs.

After conceding an average of 2.8 goals per match across their last six top-flight visits to Villarreal, Rayo Vallecano already look like a doomed outfit. The visitors have gone winless in four La Liga travels (D1, L3) since a 2-1 victory at Athletic Bilbao in mid-September, as they remain one of just three La Liga sides yet to keep a clean sheet away from home this season. Therefore, scoring first could be of the essence, especially considering Vallecano have won all seven league games when breaking the deadlock this term. That said, five (71.43%) of Vallecano’s seven La Liga away goals scored this season have come in the second half of play. Meanwhile, they’ve registered a majority (61.54%) of their top-flight goals conceded on the road so far before half-time (8/13).