Valencia vs Villarreal prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-01-01 20:30.
The two biggest clubs from the Valencian Community clash here in the latest instalment of the ‘Derbi de la Comunitat’ as Valencia and Villarreal look to kickstart their faltering La Liga (LL) campaigns. The hosts come into the fixture with just one league win from their past six outings (D2, L3), but that was in their most recent game as they beat mid-table rivals Rayo Vallecano 1-0 on their own patch. That victory came at a cost though, with key defender Thierry Correia given his marching orders for an infringement deep into second-half stoppage time.
Despite the win, that result continued a troublesome attacking trend of Valencia failing to score more than a single goal in any of their previous seven LL matches. That contributed to a lowly 19 combined league goals scored after 18 rounds for Rubén Baraja’s side, with only six sides accumulating fewer. Having also failed to score more than once in any of the last three H2Hs (D1, L2), it’s fair to say there’s no guarantee that record improves here.
Villarreal also went into the break on the back of a win, just their second from the last seven LL rounds (D1, L4). But Marcelino’s men made hard work of the success, going 3-0 up before conceding two second-half goals to make it a nervy conclusion. Entertainment like that has been plentiful throughout the away side’s season so far, with 15 of their 18 league games seeing both teams score on the day – the most in LL.
Having eventually secured victory in their last outing, Villarreal now have the chance to win successive LL games for the first time this season. While consistency has been an obvious struggle for the visitors, their record of winning each of their last four LL games to open a new calendar year should inspire hope.
Players to watch: Valencia’s Sergi Canós was the hero of their Vallecano win, netting his first goal for the club, but you’d have to go back to March 2023 for the last time he scored in back-to-back club appearances. When these sides met on New Year’s Eve last season, midfielder Dani Parejo set up the winning goal in the 2-1 victory and he also scored the decisive goal for Villarreal last time out.
Hot stat: Only matches involving Girona (3.50) produced more total goals on average than Villarreal’s (3.39) after 18 LL rounds.