Villarreal v Girona – Betting Preview
Villarreal Summary
Villarreal suffered a mini setback midweek but won’t lose sleep after being knocked out by Madrid in the cup. This in part as the season is going well and the general mood is so strong.
Even still, less than 72 hours after giving up a 2-0 half-time lead to Real Madrid in their 2-3 Copa del Rey loss, Villarreal has to regather physically and mentally here.
There are three important doubts which cloud their team news. Coquelin, Foyth, and Albiol are all struggling with the quick turnaround, it’s highly likely one or more of them miss out altogether. Naturally, the more which do not start the worse their team news is.
Seiten is also without Giovani Lo Celso and Alfonso Pedraza, while Kiko Femenia is a big doubt too, though not important for the side right now.
On top of those possible forced moves, the boss has hinted at rotations to keep men fresh.
All things considered, Villarreal could be hugely under strength against Girona.
Villarreal is about to sell Danjuma and Nicolas Jackson, but this is a selling club and always can produce the next quality player.
Girona Summary
Girona’s overall mood and confidence are great, and the season is exceeding expectations.
The Catalan club come into the game in good mood due to excellent league form. They sent Sevilla closer to the Segunda División with a 2-1 home victory last weekend. Girona now shares the longest active undefeated league streak (7) along with Barcelona.
Away from Estadi Montilivi, Girona will be content to draw this game and continue their run without losses.
Boss Michel Sánchez has mixed news, he can recall Javi Hernández and Juanpe who have recovered from knocks. And new signing, Ukrainian forward Viktor Tsygankov also makes the squad.
The fringe men Ibrahima Kebé and Reinier Jesús remain out but there is one new absence of importance, with the towering centre-back David López out after suffering a knock against Sevilla.
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 market first, where the favourite for this game is Villarreal @ 1.75. Girona is @ 4.6 which looks fairly tempting given their form and team news which is negative for the host. The draw meanwhile is @ 3.95.
Moving onto the Asian handicap market for this contest. Villarreal is in excellent league form at home but the team news could take a turn for the worse depending on the fitness of several key men. The -0.75 @ 1.96 may well become -0.5 or at least drift. Either way, the definite preference is for Girona +0.75 @ 1.90 at this stage.
Looking at The Under/Over market last of all which looks well set at 2.75. Over is priced @ 1.96 while the Under is @ 1.87. With Villarreal fatigued and possibly a little reactive, it could begin quite flat and only open up after the first goal. Slight preference for Under.
