Villarreal and Valencia will play the latest edition of the Derbi de la Comunitat on Saturday at the Estadio de la Ceramica. The two clubs are in midtable and a win could propel one of the sides into a fight for a European place.
The Yellow Submarine initially struggled after the departure of manager Unai Emery. However, Villarreal are coming off a 1-0 away win against Espanyol in the league.
¡𝐵𝑖𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑎, 𝑢𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑦𝑜!🎯⚽️🇺🇾 @ECavaniOfficial 🦇 pic.twitter.com/GC4WnTOqzS— Valencia CF (@valenciacf) December 29, 2022
¡𝐵𝑖𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑎, 𝑢𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑦𝑜!🎯⚽️🇺🇾 @ECavaniOfficial 🦇 pic.twitter.com/GC4WnTOqzS
Former Real Betis and Barcelona manager Quique Setien took over for Emery and is hoping for a second straight win.
Valencia are 10th in the standings and two points off of ninth-place Villarreal. Los Che are unbeaten in back-to-back games. However, Valencia are struggling to get any kind of winning form although they are just five points off the top six.
Villarreal took nine points in the last six games in La Liga. The Yellow Submarine scored only five goals in their last six games, as the defence conceded seven times. Villarreal have played well at the Estadio de la Ceramica this season with three wins, one draw, and one defeat.
Valencia picked up six points from the last six games in the Spanish top flight. Like Villarreal, Valencia have struggled to score goals with just eight tallied. The defence conceded seven times across the last six games for Valencia.
Los Che are unbeaten in their last four games away from the Mestalla. However, three of those four games ended as draws. Valencia have drawn four of their 14 La Liga games this season. Villarreal have three draws from 14 fixtures.
Gennaro Gattuso has a few players on the Valencia injured list. Goalkeeper Jaume Domenech is out of action with an ACL injury. Villarreal manager Setien is unlikely to have midfielder Giovani Lo Celso due to a hamstring injury.
Full-back Jose Gaya is also on the injury list. Gaya could be fit for the game following an ankle issue. Edinson Cavani should start in attack for Gattuso after returning from the World Cup. Cavani leads the team with four league goals.
Valencia posted four wins and two losses in their last six games against Villarreal. The home team won each of the last six matches in all competitions between these clubs. All six games finished with over 1.5 goals scored.
Although the home team won the last six head-to-head matches between these teams, Sunday’s game should finish as a score draw. Valencia should sneak a 1-1 draw against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica.