LaLiga – Match-day 11: Villarreal v Almería

LaLiga action on Sunday as Villarreal and Almería meet at the Estadio de la Ceramica – 6:30pm GMT.

Sunday’s clash at the Estadio de la Ceramica- sees thirteenth placed Almería, travel to ninth-placed Villarreal in the LaLiga.

Villarreal arrive at this fixture, having secured 15 points so far this season

Villarreal will be full of confidence, going into this fixture on that back of two successive wins against Barcelona and Osasuna. They will need this if they are to retain their run.

Also, Unai Emery’s Villarreal have lost two of their last three matches this season. With 15 points (4W, 3L and 3D), they are established in ninth position in the League having won four games, drawn three meetings, and lost three matches.

Villarreal have won two games and drawn one game of their three League matches at home this season.

Winning this fixture will see Villarreal on 18 points.

A solid defensive team

Villarreal have conceded six goals so far, so their defence can be considered to be strong. The number of goals that a team scores can sometimes give a misleading impression of performance. Villarreal have found the net 12 times (11 from open play and one penalty), but their performance at times this season has been average. This season, their stand-out attacking players have been Alex Baena (3), Gerard Moreno (2), and Arnaut Danjuma (2).

Villarreal are missing three players through injury or illness. This will affect Unai Emery’s selection choices significantly.

With the LaLiga season well into its stride, Almería have managed to gain 10 points

With Almería having secured all three points on their two previous outings, Rubi’s men will doubtless be looking to retain their run after this fixture.

Also, league success is all about winning football matches, any way you can, so five losses in seven matches would not make this a successful season for Almería. With a thirteenth position in the league and 3 wins, 6 losses and 1 draws, they currently have 10 points in the League having won three fixtures, drawn one game, and lost six meetings.

Almería have drawn one game and lost four games of their five League matches on the road this season.

A win in this fixture would take Almería’s points to 13 in the League.

Injury and illness have depleted Rubi’s Almería and they will likely be missing five key personnel for Sunday’s match.

Villarreal v Almería – Head-to-Heads.

Regarding their historical duels when these two rivals meet, the tendency of late has been for Villarreal to take all the points with eight victories and seven draws. Further, the two sides have been unable to break the dead-lock on two occasions out of the last three meetings, resulting in draws. Their most recent encounter in this competition The Yellow Submarine delivered an 8-0 home win.

Players to watch

For Villarreal, Alex Baena has nettedthree goals in 10 League fixtures so far, while El Bilal Toure, one of their best scorers, has nettedthree goals in 10 League matches this LaLiga Season for Almería.

Other standout players for Villarreal are Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma with two goals and two goals respectively and for Almería are El Bilal Toure and Largie Ramazani with three goals each.