Villarreal to enhance European hopes with Eibar victory

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Villarreal host Eibar at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Saturday lunchtime in La Liga, as the home side look to cement their place in the European places.

The home side are currently fifth in the Spanish top-flight table. However, Fran Escriba’s side are level on points with sixth place Real Sociedad, while Athletic Bilbao in seventh are just four points behind the Yellow Submarine.

The home side still have an outside chance of finishing in the top four, but they are currently seven points behind fourth place Atletico Madrid. Villarreal’s run of three straight La Liga wins was brought to an end by a 1-0 defeat at Las Palmas prior to the international break.

Escriba’s team’s home record in La Liga has been mixed of late, with two wins, two draws and two defeats at the Estadio de la Ceramica in their last six outings.

Villarreal have the best defensive record in La Liga, which has contributed to their games being low-scoring this season. In fact, there has been under 2.5 goals scored in ten of their last 12 La Liga outings.

Eibar are currently eighth in La Liga, but their form has dipped of late. Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side have failed to win in their last four games in the Spanish top-flight, losing once and drawing three times. The visitors have also won just one of their last six league games.

Despite that recent poor run of form the visitors still have an outside chance of a top-six finish. However, they currently find themselves seven points behind sixth-place Real Sociedad.

Eibar have a poor away record in La Liga, having picked up just two wins from their last 11 games on their travels in the top-flight.

Villarreal head into this clash as favourites to pick up three points and should have enough quality to see off Eibar in a tight clash.