Despite being handed recent back-to-back defeats away from home at Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in La Liga, Sunday’s hosts, Villarreal, know they have a golden opportunity to set the record straight when they return to their Estadio de la Cerámica against struggling Leganes.
Prior to these recent losses, Villarreal had put together a 4-match unbeaten run in the Spanish top flight which consisted of 3 wins and 1 draw and included wins against Deportivo Alaves, Osasuna and Levante as well as a 1-1 draw away from home at Real Valladolid.
Overall results have been pretty reasonable as Villarreal have suffered just 3 defeats out of their last 11 matches in La Liga, while at home the hosts have lost just twice all season to date, picking up 6 wins and 4 draws into the bargain as well.
Villarreal have won 3 of their last 4 matches at home which also includes an earlier win against high-flying 4th placed surprise package, Getafe, and having lost just 2 of their last 17 matches in their own backyard, the hosts look in good shape for the points here.
Leganes can only dream of this sort of form as the visitors currently occupy second from bottom position in La Liga and head into this important Sunday evening clash on the back of a disappointing 4-match sequence without a win.
Draws at home with Real Betis and Deportivo Alaves in 0-0 and 1-1 stalemates have been outweighed by back-to-back defeats on the road at Levante 2-0 and Celta Vigo 1-0 and these ordinary results have consigned Leganes to the bottom three of La Liga and 5 points adrift of safety.
In addition to failing to score in 3 of their last 4 matches overall, Leganes have struggled away from home throughout this season’s La Liga campaign as the visitors remain one of only two teams yet to register an away win this term - third from bottom Mallorca are the other side.
The bigger picture shows that Leganes have mustered just 1 away win out of their last 16 matches on their travels in La Liga and they’ve failed to score in 7 of their 12 away matches to date this season.
Villarreal have held the upper hand in recent exchanges against Leganes, winning the last 5 encounters on the trot and this trend looks set to continue this Sunday.