Villarreal vs Sporting Gijon
Spanish La Liga
Date: Friday, 28th April 2017
Kick off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Estadio de la Ceramica.
Sporting Gijon come into this game in the bottom three with just four to play and in desperate need of a win. However, it’s very hard to see it coming here with Villarreal in pretty good form.
The Yellow Submarine picked up a hard-fought 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon in midweek to complete an impressive double over Atleti. Despite that they look out of the running for a top four position but victory here will move them to the brink of securing Europa League football, which would be a decent achievement given the turmoil they were in at the start of the campaign. Their overall home record is strong, with a 59% win percentage at the Estadio de la Cerámica in La Liga, which suggests they will have no trouble seeing off struggling opposition.
Villarreal have something of a reputation as a negative side but that has only really been true, away. They’ve scored 1.88 goals per game at home this season and 53% of their home games have produced over 2.5 goals. Finding a consistent goal threat up front has been an issue but Cedric Bakambu looks to have found some form now. With 4 goals in his last 4 games, backing Bakambu to score anytime at 7/5 looks a good shout here, given he’ll be up against a very unconvincing defence.
Sporting’s situation is looking very serious but after this game they don’t have an impossible run-in, with a couple of decent looking home games where they’ll fancy they can pick up 3 points. However, making a case for them to stay up or get anything at Villarreal is tough, when you consider they’ve only won 3 of their last 33 games. They’ve lost 59% of their away league games this term, taking just 0.53 points per game on their travels.
This certainly looks like a home banker but if you want to seek bigger returns, back Villarreal to win & Over 2.5 goals at 21/20. Given there have been over 2.5 goals in 65% of Sporting Gijon games this season and given they’ve conceded 1.97 goals per game on average, that certainly looks to offer value.
Villarreal
The Yellow Submarine finally managed to find the right shape as they managed to claim four victories in the last five league outings.
The team led by Fran Escriba came on a five-point distance from the fourth-placed Sevilla after an away victory over Atletico Madrid at Estadio Vicente Calderon in mid-week.
Sporting Gijon
The story is completely opposite with Gijon who are winless in last six league fixtures.
Getting out of the danger zone will require a serious turnaround in form, but the good news for the new manager Joan Rubi and his men is definitely an easy schedule after the visit to Estadio de la Ceramica.
Villarreal vs Sporting Gijon: Head to head
Villarreal have ten wins from 16 head to head meetings with Sporting Gijon.
The Yellow Submarine came out victorious from this season’s clash with Gijon back in mid-December last year when they scored three goals at Estadio Municipal El Molinon.
Villarreal vs Sporting Gijon: Prediction
The Yellow Submarine are heavy favourites to maintain the impressive run and pick up the third straight win on the home pitch.
The visitors showed plenty of holes at the back in the recent period and we’d be very surprised to see Villarreal failing to find the net at least twice on Friday evening.
Villarreal vs Sporting Gijon: Bet Tips
The first pick will be Villarreal Over 1.5 team goals at the odds of 1.50.
