An excellent transfer window, where they bought and sold wisely, has led to improved results for the Yellow Submarine.
| Villarreal Markets | Odds |
|---|---|
| Villarreal to win to nil vs Getafe | 2.37 |
| Villarreal to win & Over 2.5 goals vs Levante | 2.50 |
Odds courtesy of Stake. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
Attacking depth the key for Villarreal
Villarreal spent and raised more than €100m in the summer. They finished with a small profit from transfers, but appear to have a stronger squad now.
The sales of three players provided a significant budget to spend. Alex Baena, Yeremy Pino, and Thierno Barry were the key players who left.
While the team miss Baena and Pino, that hasn’t been the case with Barry. His failure to score in 16 appearances for Everton so far suggests the Spanish club made a great business decision.
Villarreal’s recruitment strategy was to invest in the overall squad, rather than buying direct replacements. As a result, their overall depth is now far greater than it was last season.
They have five strong options for the two forward roles in Marcelino’s preferred 4-4-2 system. Record signing Georges Mikautadze has added real competition for the likes of Ayoze Perez and Gerard Moreno. Tani Oluwaseyi and Nicolas Pepe can also play in that position.
All of those players have already scored at least twice in La Liga this season. Having so many options has allowed the Villarreal manager to rotate between domestic and European fixtures. That has helped their forward line to stay fresh and effective.
Pepe is also often used as a winger, with the ex-Arsenal man competing with Tajon Buchanan on the right flank. The Canadian has already contributed four goals in the league this term. Meanwhile, fellow summer signing Alberto Moleiro has excelled with six goals and two assists on the opposite side.
Will they fire again in favourable upcoming fixtures?
Villarreal’s next league fixture is against Getafe at home, who are one of the most defensive teams in La Liga. Both sides rank among the best seven in terms of their defensive records, with the Yellow Submarine also much improved in that department.
However, Getafe have already suffered two 3-0 defeats on the road this season. That suggests they could still struggle significantly against their in-form opponents.
The Yellow Submarine are unbeaten in seven home league matches, having scored 2.57 goals per game and conceded just 0.57. They’ve won six of those games, keeping four clean sheets in the process. Against low-scoring Getafe, Villarreal are at value to win to nil, with an implied probability of 41.7%.
They then host Copenhagen in the Champions League. The Spaniards are the clear favourites to win that match, but they’ve been nowhere near as impressive in Europe this term.
They’ve only scored twice in the competition and even lost 1-0 to Cypriot minnows Pafos. That suggests it may be best to focus on Villarreal’s domestic fixtures when backing them.
A trip to neighbours Levante follows that match. The Valencian side have the worst home defensive record in La Liga. They’ve conceded 2.67 goals per game in front of their own fans, securing just one home point.
The newly promoted side are far too vulnerable in defence to prevent Villarreal from scoring. The visitors seem to offer value to win by at least three goals, with an implied probability of 40%.