Having recovered well from the opening two defeats, Villarreal will be searching for third successive La Liga triumph when they take on Espanyol on Thursday.

Los Periquitos have ended a poor run of their own last weekend, but they could face a tough task at El Madrigal in midweek.

Having finished the previous campaign in fifth position, Villarreal hope to return to La Liga top 4 this season, but that looks easier said than done.

The Yellow Submarine squad underwent some serious changes in the summer transfer window, and that was probably the main reason for the slow start.

Villarreal failed to score a single goal in La Liga defeats to Levante and Real Sociedad, but they then managed to hit the ground running.

The Yellow Submarine enjoyed victories over Real Betis, Astana and Deportivo Alaves to seriously improve the spirits and they are now priced at 1.73 (8/11) to beat Espanyol as well.

After recovering from a knee injury, Sergio Asenjo suffered a back problem in training and he is unlikely to feature, but Samu Castillejo and Jaume Costa have recovered from minor knocks.

The good news is that fellow goalkeeper Mariano Barbosa has trained normally after suffering a head injury and he should be in contention.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Barbosa – Mario, Gonzalez, Ruiz, Jaume Costa – Castillejo, Rodri, Trigueros, Fornals – Bakambu, Bacca.

Spending almost every single league campaign in mid table obscurity, Espanyol are rightly considered one of La Liga’s most boring sides.

If it weren’t for the local derby against Barcelona, los Periquitos probably wouldn’t be making the headlines at all, although they did well to finish the season in the top half of the standings last season.

Despite operating on a tight budget, Espanyol managed to reinforce their ranks with Sergi Darder, Sergio Sanchez, Naldo, Didac Vila and Pablo Piatti among others.

But, even with no notable departures apart from Felipe Caicedo, los Periquitos have largely struggled in the opening exchanges.

Namely, following the opening draw against Sevilla, Espanyol suffered back to back defeats to Leganes and Barcelona, before finally recording the first win of the campaign against Sevilla.

Full-back Didac Vila is rated doubtful after missing the game against Celta Vigo, but there are no fresh selection worries for Quique Sanchez Flores.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-1-1): Pau Lopez – V. Sanchez, David Lopez, Mario Hermoso, Aaron Martin – Baptistao, Javi Fuego, Darder, Piatti – Jurado – Gerard Moreno.