RCD Espanyol vs Villarreal CF Preview 09/11/2022

RCD Espanyol vs Villarreal CF – 09/11/2022

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We have the penultimate round of La Liga fixtures this week ahead of the World Cup, including the meeting between Espanyol and Villarreal.

The game will be played at the RCDE Stadium and the hosts begin this round of fixtures in 16th place on 12 points while the visitors are in 8th place on 18 points.

Espanyol come into the game having picked up a point thanks to a good 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid on the weekend.

Espanyol opened the scoring in the 62nd minute having been down to 10 men for much of the game. However, they could not hold on to claim the victory and Atletico Madrid scored the equaliser in the 78th minute.

That result means Espanyol are undefeated in their last 3 games, all of which have come in La Liga. They have been difficult to beat but all 3 matches have ended in a draw, with the points shared against Elche at home plus Real Mallorca and Atletico Madrid away.

You must go back to the 16th of October to find the last time Espanyol won and they beat Real Valladolid 1-0 at home.

Trends show Espanyol are struggling to win games at home. They have recorded only 1 win from their last 9 home La Liga fixtures.

However, they are undefeated in their last 3 home league matches. Espanyol have seen over 2.5 goals in 4 of their last 5 La Liga games on home soil, with both teams scoring in those 4 matches.

Villarreal make the trip to the RCDE Stadium on the back of a disappointing 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Real Mallorca. The away team opened the scoring in the 32nd minute and doubled their advantage with 15 minutes remaining on the clock.

That result means Villarreal have lost their last 3 games, 2 of which have been in La Liga against Athletic Bilbao and Real Mallorca and one in the Europa Conference League at Lech Poznań.

Form in La Liga shows Villarreal have lost 3 of their 4 most recent matches with the only victory coming at home over Almeria.

Away form in La Liga shows Villarreal have been struggling. They have failed to win any of their last 6 away league fixtures, losing 4 of their last 5 games on the road.

Team news and Espanyol are without the injured duo of Rubén Sánchez and Adrià Pedrosa. Leandro Cabrera is suspended following his red card at Atletico Madrid.

Villarreal travel without Giovani Lo Celso and Alfonso Pedraza, who both have hamstring problems.

This is a big game for both teams and Villarreal are looking to move on from the loss of manager Unai Emery.

Villarreal are undefeated in 29 of their last 34 matches in all competitions against Espanyol and could add to that record with a win in this game. We expect to see under 2.5 goals scored in the match.