Espanyol vs Villarreal Prediction: The Yellow Submarine to submerge the hosts

Espanyol entertain Villarreal at RCDE Stadium in La Liga on Thursday (18:00, Premier Sports Player), hoping to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat at Real Madrid at the weekend. No one can besmirch them for losing to Los Blancos, especially after they had won two games on the bounce before that match.

Villarreal tasted their first defeat of the campaign last time out as they were hammered 5-1 at home to Barcelona - so they too will look to respond. Below you will find my Espanyol vs Villarreal prediction, including the latest match odds and team news.

Espanyol vs Villarreal Odds

Espanyol are 12/5 to win this contest, giving them an implied probability of 29.4%. Villarreal are valued at 23/20 to return to winning ways, which gives them a theoretical chance of 46.5%. The draw is also available at 12/5 (29.4%).

Both teams to score is on offer at 4/6 and over 2.5 goals is marketed at 4/5. Villarreal winger Ayoze Perez has scored four goals in La Liga so far, and he is priced at 15/8 to score anytime, or 11/2 to open proceedings.

Football Odds

Team News 

Edu Exposito remains a long-term absentee for Espanyol, but the home side have no fresh injury concerns heading into Thursday's match. Boss Manolo Gonzalez could be tempted to make some changes to freshen up the side. Alvaro Aguado could be brought in to the middle of the park to give the engine room some fresh energy.

Tottenham Hotspur loanee Alejo Veliz will be hoping to start up front after coming on for the second half in the defeat to Real Madrid.

Former Spurs defender Juan Foyth is sidelined through injury and will not feature in this clash for Villarreal, and the same applies to forward Gerard Moreno. Alfonso Pedraza and ex-Manchester United man Willy Kambwala are also doubts to feature as both players have been dealing with injuries themselves.

Manager Marcelino could also consider introducing some fresh legs after his side were humbled at the weekend, so we could see the likes of Thierno Barry and Ilias Akhomach promoted to the starting XI in Barcelona.

The visitors will be hoping that Ayoze Perez can continue his excellent goalscoring form, having netted four goals in six league games since joining from Real Betis over the summer.

Villarreal to win @ 23/20

The Yellow Submarine remain sixth in the league table despite their heavy loss at the weekend, but you can forgive them for losing to a side as strong as Barcelona, who have won all six of their games so far. On top of that, it was only Villarreal's first defeat of the campaign.

They have won three matches already this term, so I think they will be able to bounce back at the first attempt against Espanyol. The hosts were beaten by Real Madrid last time out so again you can't really look too much into that defeat, but they did win their two fixtures before that, however.

Being at home, you'd think they'd hold the edge but I'm favouring Villarreal on this occasion. I think man-to-man they boast the stronger squad and they've also had the better start to the season.

The Yellow Submarine have been tough to beat, even if they have conceded a lot of goals already, but they seem to be getting on okay by outscoring their opponents. I'm not going to overlook the defensive issues, as that is something that will need to drastically improve if they wish to qualify for Europe come the end of term.

Right now, I think they're in a much stronger place than their hosts and I think this can aid them to victory on Thursday in Catalonia. I'm backing Villarreal to take the three points here.

Over 2.5 goals @ 4/5

As such, I think over 2.5 goals are worth backing. There have been 25 goals scored in Villarreal's six league fixtures thus far, and over 2.5 goals has been a winning selection in five of them.

I think they will win here, but I can't see them keeping a clean sheet right now. The defence is shaky and it will take time to make them a tougher unit. Espanyol may have only found the back of the net six times in La Liga after six games, but they will be fancying their chances to get on the scoresheet against this particular back line.

Once again, I think it will be a case of Villarreal going out and making sure that they score more than their opponent. Ayoze Perez has enjoyed an excellent start to his Villarreal career, and I don't think the goals will be drying up for him any time soon. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get on the scoresheet again, and I believe he will be pivotal in his side coming away from the RCDE Stadium with three points.

The visitors' attacking prowess and defensive frailties makes you think over 2.5 goals will be a regular feature in their matches throughout 2024/25.

Offers

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