Alaves vs Villarreal prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-02-09 13:00.
Villarreal must be one of the last teams that AlavĂ©s manager Luis GarcĂa wants to face. Not only may it remind him of his disastrous tenure at Villarreal when he was sacked within two months and without a La Liga win (D4, L2), but GarcĂa has since failed to defeat Villarreal in three attempts (D2, L1) in charge of two different clubs.
There has been enough recently to suggest that that run could change, even though AlavĂ©s’ four-game unbeaten La Liga streak (W3, D1) ended against Barcelona last Saturday (L 3-1). GarcĂa asserted that the match was far more even than the result suggests, and should be especially pleased that his men scored for a fifth consecutive league encounter after not registering a league goal in December.
Alavés were in the midst of a seven-game period without a victory (D3, L4) when they took the lead at Villarreal before drawing 1-1 in October, so the visitors here need to be both wary of their opponents’ improving performances and their own inconsistency. Draws at home to relegation-threatened Mallorca (1-1) and Cádiz (0-0) came either side of a monstrous triumph at Barcelona (5-3), which as a result has seen the pre-match favourite fail to win four of the Yellow Submarine’s last five competitive outings.
Almost all of Villarreal’s La Liga points this season have been picked up against clubs also currently in the bottom half of the table (W5, D6, L1), with a 3-1 loss at Cádiz in September the only defeat. That poor win rate perhaps explains why they started this round just seven points above the relegation zone, but their record against sides around them in the standings means that it would be a surprise if they return to Castellón empty-handed, as they did after their last two trips to Alavés.
Players to watch: Alavés midfielder Ander Guevara has accumulated six bookings this campaign, and after picking up cards in three of his four H2Hs, is at risk of a seventh. Gerard Moreno’s last four competitive goals for Villarreal have all come away from home, while he has netted in four of his last five meetings with Alavés.
Hot streak: Alavés’ last six home H2Hs have each produced exactly three total goals.