Villarreal vs Granada

February 6, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Having given a very good account of themselves in the 3-2 defeat to Barcelona, Villarreal will have a lot to build on when they host Granada on Saturday afternoon. Los Rojiblancos escaped the bottom of the standings by beating Elche at home, but they face a much tougher task at El Madrigal.

Incredible consistency

Villarreal have been thoroughly impressive ever since they returned to the elite division, and they are on the verge of challenging for top 4 positions in La Liga. The best thing about Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side is that they continue to play well on all three fronts, having qualified for the Copa del Rey semi-final and Europa League first knockout stage. The coach’s rotation policy has worked like a charm so far, with team’s form at a very high level for over two months now, and the addition of Joel Campbell is likely to further improve the strength in depth. Villarreal’s 18-match unbeaten run may have come to an end as they lost to Barcelona, but the excellent performance at Camp Nou is enough to suggest the Yellow Submarine continue to play on top of their game. The hosts, therefore, have plenty of reason for optimism ahead of the clash with Granada, having not only won last seven matches at El Madrigal, but also keeping a clean sheet in each of those games. And with Villarreal mere four points behind Champions League positions at the moment, they will have an extra incentive to win this match.

January recruit Joel Campbell should be in contention, with Bojan Jokic the only player on the sidelines at the moment.

Important win over Elche

A victory on the final day of the season helped Granada escape the drop last term, but it remains to be seen whether they will be so lucky this time out. Los Rojiblancos slipped into the relegation zone shortly after the new campaign started and they have been unable to leave the bottom three ever since. A ten-match winless run on all fronts finally came to an end as Granada defeated relegation rivals Elche last weekend, but the match against high-flying Villarreal will be a whole different ball game. The club management have added a number of players in the winter transfer window, but they do not seem to have the quality to help the team turns things around. Granada have been pretty disappointing on the travels of late, losing seven of last eleven matches and earning four draws, scoring 7 and conceding 27 goals in the process. And with the away game against one of league’s strongest hosts next, the poor record is unlikely to be improved. The visitors also have some important players on the sidelines, which only adds to the worries.

Ruben Perez has recovered from injury, but Ruben Rochina, Eddy Pascual, Riki, Jeison Murillo and Sulayman Mareh are out injured.

Verdict

Villarreal have been thoroughly impressive of late, especially at their El Madrigal, where they recorded seven straight wins without conceding. Meanwhile, Granada largely struggle on the travels, so they cannot really be expected to be the team that end Villarrea’s excellent run.

Top pick: Villarreal to win to nil   2.05 (21/20) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Villarreal/Villarreal   1.95 (19/20) @ Betfair

Alternative pick 2: Villareal -1.5 AH   2.02 (51/50) @ bet365

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