Both Villarreal and Athletic will be looking to place extra pressure on top 4 rivals Sevilla by winning at El Madrigal, having closed the gap on los Rojiblancos by winning in midweek.

And while the Yellow Submarine are one point clear in the overall standings, it is los Leones who head into the all-important clash in better spirits.

Despite not having such a big squad to begin with, Villarreal attempt to successfully compete in three major competitions, but we can now say they have failed in their quest.

The Yellow Submarine weren’t able to reach the final stages of either Europa League or Copa del Rey, but at least they can now fully focus on the La Liga campaign.

Villarreal appear to have overcome a difficult period that saw them lose to Las Palmas and Eibar, with their second-string side doing well to defeat Real Betis away.

Former Atletico Madrid star Adrian Lopez scored the first goal of the campaign to secure three points, but he will now make way for regular starters Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu.

Jonathan dos Santos picked up a knock in said game and will probably not be risked, while Antonio Rukavina, Denis Cheryshev and Sergio Asenjo continue to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Fernandez – Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Jaume Costa – Castillejo, Trigueros, Bruno, Soriano – Soldado, Bakambu.

Athletic Club’s current season resembles greatly that of their next opponents as they too have failed to reach the closing stages of Europa League and Copa del Rey.

However, los Leones have shown a great deal of improvement in La Liga and they seem determined to try and catch fourth-placed Sevilla.

Athletic have been thoroughly impressive of late, winning four of last five league games and suffering a somewhat undeserved loss to Real Madrid.

And having conceded just one goal in said four wins, los Leones will be feeling confident ahead of the trip to El Madrigal on Friday.

Yeray Alvarez has recovered from a broken nose and he should start, while Inaki Williams, Mikel San Jose and Mikel Balenziaga should be recalled.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Kepa – De Marcos, Alvarez, Laporte, Balenziaga – San Jose, Benat – Williams, Raul Garcia, Muniain – Aduriz.