The Europa League holders made a giant step towards the next stage with a 3-1 win at El Madrigal, but having failed to impress in the first leg, Sevilla will have to show some improvement if they want to avoid any surprises.

Villarreal were very unfortunate to lose the first match, but they still believe they can overturn the two-goal deficit and make it to the quarter-finals.

Sevilla may have been eliminated from Copa del Rey, but they have been pretty impressive in all the other competitions entered.

After failing to defeat top 4 rivals Atletico Madrid despite outclassing them at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, los Rojiblancos eventually managed to revive their Champions League hopes.

Back to back wins over Deportivo and Elche saw Unai Emery’s side close the gap behind Champions League positions to just four points, but the time has come for the team to turn towards their European commitments.

After coming second in their Europa League group, Sevilla impressed to record a double win over Borussia M’gladbach before defeating Villarreal 3-1 at El Madrigal in the next stage.

However, it is important to note that los Rojiblancos were on the back foot for much of the game, although they remain 2.20 (6/5) favourites to win the return leg as well.

The hosts will be without key midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak through suspension, while first choice keeper Beto is close to returning into action.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Rico – Figueras, Pareja, Carrico, Tremoulinas – M’Bia, Iborra – Vidal, Banega, Vitolo – Gameiro.

The 3-1 loss to Sevilla was one of just several slip-ups Villarreal have had over the last few months, and the truth is they did not even deserve to lose.

The Yellow Submarine continued the rich vein of form by completely outplaying their La Liga rivals, but conceded some cheap goals and had to settle for said defeat.

But, with Marcelino Garcia Toral’s charges playing with a lot of confidence at the moment, they are unlikely to give up on the quarter-final berth, but will rather give their best to try and beat Sevilla at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

And while away win pays 3.50 (5/2), Villarreal can be backed at 13.00 (12/1) to produce a major shock and qualify for the next stage.

After resting a number of starters in weekend’s goalless draw with Almeria, Marcelino is expected to revert to his strongest line-up.

Luciano Vietto, Mario Gaspar, Dennis Cheryshev and Ikechukwu Uche will be among those to come in, but full-back Jaume Costa is banned.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Asenjo – Mario, Musacchio, Bailly, Rukavina – Gomez, Trigueros, J. dos Santos, Cheryshev – Uche, Vietto.