Alaves vs Villarreal Prediction & Tips
Villarreal may be one of the last teams current Deportivo Alavés coach Luis García Plaza wants to face. The Madrid-born coach must not have fond memories of his short-lived spell with the Castellón outfit, who he took over in December 2018 and was sacked after just 50 days with a record of four draws and two defeats in LaLiga (LL). Since then, García Plaza has failed to beat Villarreal in three duels as head coach of two different clubs (E2, P1).
That streak could change on his first visit to Villarreal at the helm of Alavés, who saw a remarkable four-match unbeaten run in LL (G3, E1) cut short last Saturday with a 3-1 loss to Barcelona at Mendizorroza. “It was a more even match than the result says,” said the Albiazul coach at the end of the fifth consecutive league match with at least one goal in favor of his team, an encouraging series after failing to score a goal in the domestic championship in December.
Alavés had gone seven games without a win (E3, P4) when they broke the 0-0 deadlock before drawing 1-1 in October’s match against Villarreal, who continue to show great irregularity and will have to raise their level at the home of an opponent whose performance has improved significantly. Los Groguets have drawn twice at home against teams in the fight for relegation (1-1 vs. Mallorca, 0-0 vs. Cadiz), and in between a historic 5-3 away win over Barcelona. It is worth noting that only one of the Submarino Amarillo’s last five official matches has resulted in a victory for the team with the favorite status.
Fourteenth after matchday 23, Villarreal have picked up almost all of their points in duels against clubs also in the bottom half of the standings (G5, E6, P1), with their only defeat to such teams dating back to September (Cadiz 3-1 VIL). It comes as no surprise, then, that Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side enter this matchday with a cushion of just seven points over relegation, a margin they will be looking to extend at a stadium they came away from empty-handed on their last two visits.
Players to watch: Albiazul midfielder Ander Guevara, with six cards this season, has been cautioned in three of his four appearances against Villarreal. Gerard Moreno’s four most recent official goals for Villarreal have come away from home, and the Catalan forward has scored in four of his last five games as a Groguet against Alavés.
Standout series: each of Alavés’ last six home meetings with Villarreal has featured exactly three goals.
Alaves – Villarreal FREE TIPS
OVER 1.5 GOALS @ 1.35
