Villarreal vs Malaga Prediction and Preview – 13/02/16
La Liga preview – Villarreal vs Malaga prediction.
Daniele Bonera ruled himself out of Saturday’s La Liga match for picking up two yellow cards after coming off the bench for Villarreal against Athletic Club last weekend. Eric Bailly’s shoulder injury remains a cause for concern and Mateo Musacchio is expected to resume duties at centre back alongside Viktor Ruiz. In midfield, Tomas Pina has been suffering with a minor knee problem and right winger Samuel is recovering from a broken toe. Adrian Lopez is in recovery after a long absence with a hamstring problem which means Roberto Soldado’s place looks safe despite the centre forward’s barren run of nine games without a goal.
Malaga central defender Raul Albentosa returns from a one-match suspension relieving right back Miguel Torres who deputised in the prolonged absence of Weligton. Ricio picked up his tenth yellow of the season in the 3-0 victory over Getafe last weekend. The central midfielder is likely to be replaced by Pablo Fornals which would leave club captain Duda awaiting his first start since being pulled off when Malaga defeated Rayo Vallecano on 13 December. Gonzalo Castro and Juan Carlos remained sidelined for a number of weeks with their injury problems.
Possible Line-ups
Villarreal 4-4-2 formation: Areola; Gaspar, Musacchio, Ruiz, Costa; dos Santos, Trigueros, Bruno, Suarez; Bakambu, Soldado
Malaga 4-4-2 formation: Kameni; Rosales, Torres, Filipenko, Boka; Anor, Camacho, Fornals, Atsu; Cop, Charles
Statistics
- Villarreal have won 5 drawn 3 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Malaga have won 6 drawn 1 and lost 3 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Villarreal have scored an average of 1.2 goals and conceded an average of 0.7 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Malaga have scored an average of 1.4 goals and conceded an average of 0.7 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 3 of Villarreal’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 4 of Malaga’s previous 10 matches
Prediction
Villarreal have only dropped five points at home this season and are unbeaten in front of their own support since losing out to a last minute goal against Celta Vigo nine games ago. However home performances have not been convincing of late, held to a 0-0 draw by Real Betis and struggling to break down Granada for a 1-0 win in the last two. Marcelino’s men go into Saturday’s game having drawn three and won one of the last four in La Liga.
Malaga’s league form has improved dramatically since the beginning of December – won 6 and drawn 2 of last 10 in La Liga. There was no disgrace in losing 2-1 in the fortress of Sevilla and Javi Garcia’s men restricted Barcelona to few chances when losing 2-1 at La Rosaleda last month. Malaga have won three of the last five away games in the league and go to the Madrigal on the back of successive wins, 2-1 at Eibar and 3-0 at home to Granada.
Villarreal face a real challenge to keep their impressive home record intact and may have to settle for a share of the points.
Tips
Draw at 12/5 with Marathonbet
Under 2.5 goals at 13/20 with Marathonbet
Correct score 1-1 at 6/1 with BetVictor
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