Villarreal vs Elche prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2022-09-03 16:30.
Despite the disappointment of his perfect start to the season coming to an end, Villarreal manager Unai Emery was seeing nothing but positives from a busy period in which his side collected two wins and a draw from three away trips across all competitions inside eight days remarking that “it has been a tremendous week” with “great value.”
Emery can also claim some unique history after Villarreal’s recent scoreless draw at Getafe. For the first time in their history, and despite facing a total of 13 shots on target, Villarreal opened a new La Liga (LL) season with three consecutive clean sheets despite playing all three fixtures on the road. It’s not all rosy for ‘El Maestro’ however, as a serious knee injury to star wing-back Juan Foyth has not only put a potential sale on ice, but has left Emery scouring the market desperately for an immediate replacement.
At the other end of the standings, Elche so far appear set for another gruelling fight for survival. Their 0-1 home loss to Sociedad last round means Los Franjiverdes have failed to win any of their first three matches for a second successive LL season, which is all the more worrying given this trip to Estadi Ciutat de València (which will host Villarreal indefinitely due to renovations at El Madrigal) will be followed up with similarly difficult assignments against Athletic and Barça.
To make matters worse, as Elche search for their first win at Villarreal in any competition since both clubs were in Spain’s Segunda División in 2012/13 (D3, L2), their second-most prolific goalscorer of 2021/22 (Lucas Boyé) appears to be on the way out, having been reduced to a substitute role this season. That leaves a club that scored just 16 goals in their last 20 LL away trips scrambling for proven scorers in the final week of the transfer window.
Players to watch: Villarreal stalwart Gerard Moreno has found the back of the net in a team-best four LL home games since the start of December 2021. Meanwhile, where will Elche’s first away goal of the new LL season come from? Perhaps from Pere Milla, who was the only other player (alongside Boyé) to score in at least three of Elche’s away LL matches last season.
Hot stat: Villarreal’s home fixtures last LL season averaged an equal-high 3.05 total goals per game, with 37% of those matches clearing 4+ goals.