Villarreal progressed through to the next round of the Copa del Rey courtesy of a 1-0 win away at Tenerife at the weekend and they will be joined by Granada who claimed a 2-1 win at Malaga.
Both teams recorded victories in their last La Liga games to, with Villarreal thrashing Celta Vigo 4-0 away and Granada running out 2-0 winners at home against Osasuna.
¡Resumen completo de la victoria copera del Submarino!#CopaDelRey https://t.co/JeK4sU4ORd— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) January 17, 2021
¡Resumen completo de la victoria copera del Submarino!#CopaDelRey https://t.co/JeK4sU4ORd
Just 5pts and three positions separate these two clubs in the La Liga table, but 4th-placed Villarreal have a +9 goal difference while Granada have a -8 goal difference in 7th spot. The hosts haven’t lost against their guests since back in 2014 and have now gone eight games unbeaten against Granada.
Villareal ran out 1-0 winners when the two sides last locked horns in June and have won four of the pair’s last six encounters. Of those four wins, Villarreal have kept three clean sheets but have only scored more than 2-goals against Granada in two of the duo’s last six head-to-heads.
Villarreal have won each of their last four matches in all competitions and head into Wednesday’s clash as the slight form favourites. Granada aren’t in bad form but have lost two of their last three in the league.
Under 2.5 goals have been scored in three of Villarreal’s last six matches and two of Granada’s last three outings in La Liga have also produced under 2.5 goals.
The hosts will be without Mario Gaspar, Vicente Iborra and Alberto Moreno for the foreseeable future due to injury. The visitors have Duarte suspended for the trip to Villarreal and Diaz, Lozano and Gonalons will all miss the game through injury.
History favours the home side on Wednesday night and the stats point towards Villarreal claiming a win-to-nil.
The hosts have kept clean sheets in each of their last three wins against Granada and with the visitors failing to score in two of their last three league games, a 2-0 win could well be on the cards for Villarreal this week.