Villarreal take on the visitors Alaves in the round 19 match of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Saturday, January 10th at Estadio de la Ceramica (Villarreal).
Villarreal looked strong under Emery, but in 2023/2024, after Unai’s departure, the club went through a sharp decline. As a result, Marcelino had to be brought back, and although performances clearly improved under the returning coach, Villarreal still failed to finish in the European qualification zone. In the following season, however, they managed to break into the top five. This secured a place in the Champions League, but the comeback there has been disappointing so far. In addition, the Yellow Submarine unexpectedly lost to the modest Racing in the domestic cup last month. That setback may have been a calculated sacrifice, allowing the team to focus all its efforts on La Liga, where even a battle for third place looks realistic. True, they lost in the final round of 2024, but only to Barcelona. After the break, there were no problems against Elche, as Villarreal finally recorded a confident 3-1 victory. Recent league form suggests Villarreal are regaining momentum and playing with more consistency week by week. Their home performances, in particular, underline a growing confidence and the ability to dominate opponents from the lower half of the table.
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Alaves are generally living up to expectations. The Babazorros are not a club from which major surprises are expected, at least at the moment. Instead of occasional bright flashes, they now offer rather modest but steady stability. Last season, they once again managed to keep their place in La Liga, finishing 15th with 42 points on tie-breakers. The current campaign is developing in a very similar way: yes, defeats account for about half of their matches, but there are also wins, and most importantly, enough points to stay above the relegation zone. They are also still alive in the cup, having knocked out Sevilla last month. After a short break, they could only manage a 1-1 draw against bottom-side Oviedo. Alaves’ recent results show that they struggle to turn solid defensive displays into victories, especially away from home. The lack of momentum in recent rounds makes it difficult for them to seriously challenge teams with higher ambitions.
In the last eight head-to-head matches, the clubs are level with three wins each. They also beat each other once last season. It is clear that a home win is expected here, the only question being the margin. We are backing Villarreal to win with a handicap of -1.5 goals.
Prediction for the match: Villarreal to win with -1.5 handicap.
