Villarreal travel to Russia to battle Spartak Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday night. The Spanish side go into the fixture having taken one point from matchday 1. Villarreal drew 1-1 with Rangers at home after giving up a goal lead on two occasions.
Spartak were matchday 1 losers to Rapid Wien, 2-0. The result was disappointing for the Russian team as they would have fancied their chances to take all three points in Austria.
Javier Calleja’s Villareal haven’t started well in La Liga. The Yellow Submarine are 14th on eight points from 15. Villarreal lost at the weekend to Real Valladolid, 1-0. It was their first loss in three matches. The Spanish side has been anemic in front of goal this term.
Villarreal have scored a mere five goals in seven domestic matches. They have only conceded four times in La Liga, but their goals scored record is the lowest in the Spanish top-flight.
Spartak manager Massimo Carrera has seen his side play decently in the Russian Premier League thus far. After nine matches, Spartak sit in fifth place with just two loss. Spartak have had similar scoring issues as Villarreal with just seven goals scored.
They have allowed just five strikes, but the two conceded to Rapid Wien on matchday 1 were uncharacteristic of Carrera’s side. Spartak will be without suspended forward Luiz Adriano and midfielder Roman Eremenko. Meanwhile fitness could be an issue for a host of Spartak players going into Thursday night.
Villarreal suffered an injury crisis ahead of their matchday 1 fixture with Rangers. Several players are expected to miss matchday 2 as well. Manu Morlanes, Manuel Iturra, and Miguelon are all unfit and will sit out Villarreal’s trip to Russia. Manager Calleja is expected to pick a 4-4-2 formation allowing striker Carlos Bacca to work with a fellow forward to run off of. Bacca has scored twice this season with one of those goals coming on Europa League matchday 1.
Both managers go into the fixture in desperate need of a win. Calleja and Carrera are under pressure from their respective boards and fanbases. A loss could see won of the two lose their jobs. A win may just see the other prolong the inevitable.
Villarreal and Spartak are struggling in several areas. Those struggles will manifest themselves into a draw on Thursday night. Although neither side is in bad form, they aren’t in good form either.