Villarreal v Espanyol Betting: Yellow Submarine to outclass Catalan visitors

After two defeats from their opening two matches, Villarreal are very much back on track having recorded two successive league wins, with a Europa League victory also in between those triumphs.

The Yellow Submarine have found their scoring boots as well, with the side nettting three times in each of those three victories and they will be aiming to continue their upward trajectory when they host Espanyol on Thursday evening.

The visitors, meanwhile, got their first win of the season on Monday night when they beat Celta Vigo 2-1 at home and now aim to pick up their first victory on the road of the campaign.

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Last term, Espanyol were strong away from Cornella El Prat winning seven away matches as they finished in eighth place; however, it is worth remembering however that none of those wins came against sides who finished above them as Los Pericos picked up just one point from the seven away matches against better placed teams - with Villarreal among those sides to beat them.

Fran Escriba's side recorded a 2-0 win at the Estadio de la Ceramica against the Catalans in March, and BetSafe offer them at 37/50 (1.74) to claim another success. Espanyol for their part can be backed at 79/20 (4.95), while the draw is available at 27/10 (3.70). 

With the hosts in strong scoring form, it makes sense to back them to get among the goals and Villarreal have an excellent record in their own stadium.

Backing the Castellon outfit to score over 1.5 goals is priced at 17/20 (1.85) and this proved a regular winner in their home matches last term. Indeed, this selection has paid out in eight of their last nine home games in all competitions, as well as in three of their last four home meetings with Espanyol.

The new strike partnership of Carlos Bacca and Cedric Bakambu seems to be blossoming, with one of the two strikers scoring in each of the last three matches, while Sunday's 3-0 win at Alaves saw them both find the back of the net.

Espanyol, on the other hand, conceded at least twice last season on their visits to Sevilla, Celta Vigo, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and, of course, Villarreal, so backing them to concede over 1.5 goals once more makes perfect sense.