Fresh from the 5-1 victory in the league over Real Sociedad, Villarreal will attempt to build on the goalless draw in the first leg of their Copa del Rey clash and record another important victory over the same opposition.

La Real, on the other hand, will be looking to get revenge on the Yellow Submarine for the embarrassing league defeat, which is enough to suggest we are going to witness another interesting match between two of Spain’s top sides.

All neutral fans were happy to see Villarreal return to elite division after spending just one season in Segunda, but not even the most optimistic of fans could have predicted what ensued then.

The Yellow Submarine enjoyed a brilliant start to the league campaign and nominated themselves as serious top 4 contenders, quickly reminding everyone of the old glory days.

And just when it looked as though the team might not be able to remain in contention for the final Champions League berth, Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side recorded two magnificent victories to get their top 4 bid back on track.

The 5-2 away triumph over Rayo Vallecano was followed by 5-1 hammering of Real Sociedad, the same team they had held to a goalless draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey Last 16 stage clash just four days earlier.

And with the hosts having acquired a serious psychological advantage over their next opponents, Villarreal look a good bet to record another win at 1.80 (4/5).

Marcelino Garcia Toral is expected to continue his rotation policy, and he will have Hernan Perez back from injury, but Cani is still not ready to return.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Carlos – Pantic, Dorado, Paulista, Jokic – Moises, Pina, Bruno, Perez – Perbet, Pereira.

Real Sociedad recovered well from the disappointing start to the season that saw them crash out of Europe and put in some under-par displays on domestic stage.

An excellent run of results in the league helped La Real revive their top 4 bid, with derby victory over rivals Athletic Bilbao seriously improving their chances.

However, Jagoba Arrasate’s men could not repeat a similar performance in another high-profile clash, having been completely outclassed by Villarreal at El Madrigal.

Real Sociedad are now hoping to get revenge on their league rivals by pipping them to a place in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, but that will be no easy task.

Nevertheless, with their opponents likely to start the game with quite a few key men out of the line-up, you should know La Real are 2.25 (5/4) to qualify for the next stage.

David Zurutuza returned into action after recovering from injury, but Alberto De La Bella and Esteban Granero are out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Zubikarai – Zaldua, M. Gonzalez, I. Martinez, Angel – Elustondo, Bergara – Griezmann, Prieto, Castro – Seferovic.