Match Preview

Espanyol are hovering just above the drop zone after four Primera División matches and they head to the Estadio de la Cerámica to take on a Villarreal side who are starting to hit a rich vein of form. Our Villarreal vs Espanyol preview comes just after the away team’s first victory of the 2017/18 season, so it will be interesting to see if the game develops the way today’s football betting odds suggest it will.

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Having started the season with successive away defeats to Levante and Real Sociedad, the home club have strung together a trio of wins in the week’s leading up to today’s Villarreal vs Espanyol betting tips. Fran Escribá will be thrilled with his side’s transformation, particularly in attacking areas, where they have scored three goals for three fixtures in a row.

Just ahead of our free Villarreal vs Espanyol predictions, the away side overcame a strong Celta Vigo side on Monday to pick up their first Primera División victory since the new campaign got under way. Goals from Gerard Moreno and Pablo Piatti were enough to secure a 2-1 win. Espanyol had lost emphatically to Barcelona in their game before that. Lionel Messi smashed in a hattrick in a 5-0 win for Barca.

In the corresponding 2016/17 match-up, the Yellow Submarine picked up all three points in a 2-0 win. Villarreal are unbeaten in four against Thursday’s opposition, in fact, Espanyol have only won once from fifteen matches against them since 2008.

Villarreal vs Espanyol Prediction and Betting Advice

The home team are notoriously difficult to beat at their own stadium – they have lost just six times in thirty-five league matches at the Estadio de la Cerámica. The Periquitos have only been successful twice from seventeen tries there themselves in a poor record that runs all the way back to 1999. That’s why we make the home team favourites in our Villarreal vs Espanyol picks. Fran Escriba has seen his players win two from two home fixtures in 2017/18 and he will be supremely confident of competing a positive hattrick. The visitors are yet to win on the road and it’s unlikely they will have the ability to carve out anything for themselves on Thursday. Right back Javi Lopez will be a big loss for Espanyol, he is set to miss his third match in a row through injury. Bet365 have the outright markets cornered for this one, we recommend you use their great prices.

Congolese forward Cedric Bakambu has found the net three times in his last two appearances. The 26-year-old is in flying form and he has a knack of scoring against Espanyol too – in his last three matches against The Periquitos he has scored three times. His prolific record against Thursday’s opponents makes him a prime choice for our Primera División football betting tips. Bakambu has averaged a goal every other game since moving to Spain from Turkish club Bursaspor for just over €7 in 2015. Only one team in La Liga has conceded more goals than Espanyol so far in 2017/18, so their defence looks ripe for plundering. Ladbrokes beat off their competition for value for this selection.