Villarreal vs Las Palmas prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-10-07 12:00.
There may be a gulf in historical pedigree between Villarreal and Las Palmas, but only goal difference separated them after eight rounds of La Liga (LL) football. Villarreal were struggling domestically before having to manage the additional workload of midweek European competition, but a 1-0 Europa League win against Rennes – albeit a fortunate one as Rennes striker Martin Terrier missed both a penalty kick and follow-up close-range effort – could kickstart their faltering LL campaign.
Just one win (D1, L3) as favourites this season highlights their underachievement, but head coach Pacheta believes things are improving. He was particularly pleased with the way Villarreal were able to control the tempo against Rennes on Thursday and described consecutive competitive clean sheets as “a good sign”, not least because they had conceded in seven of the prior eight matches across all competitions.
Las Palmas are the only club in the league yet to earn a single point on the road (L4), although a terrible away record doesn’t necessarily spell doom as evidenced by AlmerĂa’s league-low eight points on their travels last season. That does mean that home needs to be a fortress in order to stay up and back-to-back home wins against Granada (1-0) and Celta Vigo (2-1) have kept them out of the danger zone for now, while the next task is to find the back of the net away from home for the first time in five attempts!
Manager GarcĂa Pimienta’s assertion that his team could have played a much more “competitive game” in a 2-0 loss away to Real Madrid two rounds ago could suggest he thinks his side has more to give on the road. That was their first LL away loss by a multiple-goal margin despite failing to score, which is impressive given three were to clubs ending the last round in the top half, so one could argue Pimienta’s side isn’t far away from happier travels.
Players to watch: Villarreal’s Alexander Sørloth registered his fifth competitive goalscoring appearance of 2023/24 during the week, and with four of his five goals coming before half-time, he’s making his presence felt quickly. In the last round, Jonathan Viera became the first Las Palmas player of the LL season to notch up a second goal, a feat achieved thanks to his role as the club’s chief penalty taker.
Hot stat: All but two of the 11 total goals scored or conceded by Las Palmas this LL season came after half-time.