La Liga: Villarreal vs. Valldolid

Posted on | April 19, 2008 | No Comments

The strain is beginning to tell for Villarreal. They have lost their last two league games and have slipped from second in the league to third, one point behind Barcelona and an enormous ten points from leaders Real Madrid. Their participation in next season’s Champions league does seem to be secure though, as they are six points from fifth placed Racing de Santander with six games to play. A win here against Valladolid would do much to ease any doubts they may have, and might even propel them back into second spot if Barcelona fail to beat Espanyol.
Valladolid’s season is still up in the air as they are five points above Zaragoza, who occupy the last relegation place at the moment. A couple of defeats and they will be right back in the survival battle. They also have some very difficult matches ahead of them, including Almeria, Sevilla, Betis and Getafe and only two of these are home games.
Villarreal’s goalkeeper, Diego Lopez, was shown the red card in their last encounter against Almeria and as a result will have to sit out a one match ban. In his place is reserve keeper Sebastian Viera, who hasn’t played an official game since the beginning of January.
Even considering Valldolid’s three match unbeaten run with two wins and a draw last weekend at home to Atlético Madrid, I have to go for Villarreal here. They have shown all season what an organized and quality squad they have, and I can’t see Valladolid doing anything to stop Villarreal in their chase for second place in the table and automatic qualification to the Champions league next season. They do have a couple of good players, most notably Capdevilla, but with Villarreal’s arsenal of top quality strikers like Rossi and Nihat, I think Villarreal should walk this one.
Prediction: Home win (2-0)

Related posts:

1. La Liga: Valladolid vs. Villarreal
2. La Liga: Villarreal — Betis
3. La Liga: Levante vs. Villarreal
4. La Liga: Getafe vs. Villarreal
5. La Liga: Villarreal vs. Recreativo de Huelva

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