Villarreal vs Betis prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-12-14 17:30.
[p]Villarreal are on their joint-longest winless run in over three years, and it is putting a dent in their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. Not since September 2021 have the Yellow Submarine gone more than their current four fixtures without a win across all competitions (D2, L2), with a 2-0 defeat to Athletic Club last time out leaving them six points off the pace in the race for the top-four ahead of this round.[/p]
[p]Manager Marcelino will be demanding an improvement on that performance, having been left “angry” at how his team defended at San Mamés. A return to home comforts should give Villarreal a boost though, as they have lost only twice at Estadio de la Ceràmica over the last 12 months (W9, D7), but with just three of those wins accompanied by a clean sheet, goals could be set to flow at both ends.[/p]
[p]Despite that, Villarreal may be confident of extending that run against opponents Real Betis, given the visitors have won just five of the last 19 H2Hs (D5, L9). Los Verdiblancos also make the long trip east in miserable form, with a 2-2 draw against Barcelona in their most recent league fixture meaning they have gone winless across their last five La Liga outings (D3, L2).[/p]
[p]That has piled the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose side have slipped into the bottom-half of the table, although the gap up to the top-six stands at only three points ahead of this round. They also picked up a confidence-boosting victory in Europe on Thursday, with a 1-0 success against Petrocub ensuring Betis extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to three fixtures (W2, D1), with both wins coming away from home.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Villarreal forward Thierno Barry has netted six of his last eight goals at club level before half-time. He will be attempting to extend that run against Betis defender Diego Llorente, who has never kept a clean sheet in seven H2Hs (W3, L4), but has won on his last two visits to Villarreal – and even grabbed a rare goal in his last away trip here back in 2019/20.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Ahead of this round, Villarreal are one of only two teams in the division to have seen each of their league matches feature 2+ goals.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]