Espanyol vs Villarreal Prediction & Betting Tips (26 September)

Espanyol believed for five minutes that they could return from the Santiago Bernabéu with the 3 points against Real Madrid on Saturday evening, but ultimately, as is often the case, scoring first against Madrid regularly ends in a defeat and the rule has not not waived 4-1 defeat. The promoted Catalan, however, remained on a victory against Deportivo Alaves, with a hat-trick from Javi Puado 3-2. Ultimately, this defeat came at a bad time since the Pericos remained in three days of the championship without defeat in the elite for a record of two victories and a draw. In the standings, the Barcelonans are proudly in 13th place in LaLiga and are obviously aiming to remain in D1 this season. Still undefeated before the reception of FC Barcelona on Sunday evening 3 wins, 2 defeats, Villarreal suffered its first poor performance in conceding a real portmanteau in his stage 1-5.

The Yellow Submarine piloted by Marcelino was therefore not the first to bring down the current leader of LaLiga. Still at the top of the table despite the 5th defeat, Villarreal will try to take the first two matches before welcoming Real Madrid to the Ceramica. Let's remember that the men in yellow had three successes against Mallorca at La Palma 1-2, against Vigo at home in a crazy match 4-3 and against Sevilla at Pizjuan 1-2. 

Nos alegra verte disfrutar en tu casa de nuevo, Denis 🫶 pic.twitter.com/OFC4ZtlFxv

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) September 23, 2024

Announced to return for October, the unfortunate Exposito (rehabilitation of his ruptured cruciate ligaments) will be forfeited for this meeting. This is ultimately the only major absence to report for Espanyol who will be able to entrust the keys to their truck to Javi Puado, author of a hat-trick in the victory against Alaves (3-2) and above all one of the main architects promotion with a total of 16 goals in the 2nd division. Top scorer Martin Braithwaite (22 goals) decided to join Brazil during the transfer window. On loan from Tottenham, Veliz has been dangerous in sequence this season and will clearly be one to watch.

  At the Yellow Submarine, the full-backs Foyth and Pedraza (long injured) will once again be missing at the helm like the top scorer in the history of the club, Gerard Moreno (injury after injury in recent years) or even Frenchman Kambwala, who arrived this summer from Manchester United (transfer). Sidelined for a very long time following an injury, rotation midfielder Denis Suarez had playing time against Barça like Pape Gueye (ex-OM). Alex Baena (2 goals, 14 assists last season) has already scored 2 goals this season while we are stopping the Spanish international recruit, Ayoze Perez (ex-Bétis), author of 4 goals in 6 La Liga matches.