Leganes vs Villarreal predictions and preview for this Sunday’s clash in La Liga. Read on for our analysis as two winless sides meet in Madrid.
DATE/TIME – Sunday 16th September 2018, 12:00 (CEST)
STADIUM – Estadio Municipal de Butarque
COMPETITION – La Liga
The early game on Sunday in La Liga sees Leganes play host to Villarreal in Madrid. While it is only early days, this actually sees two of the current bottom three meet which tells you all you need to know about the poor start both teams have had. More is certainly expected of the Yellow Submarine and they will be desperate to record their first win of the new campaign here.
The explanation behind both Leganes and Villarreal’s early struggles may lie in the same place. Both have seen a pretty major overhaul in terms of their playing personnel this summer and it may take some time for the new arrivals to gel. Villarreal have the makings of a good side with several solid options up front and plenty of quality in midfield with the likes of Pablo Fornals and Trigueros. They were a bit unfortunate to lose at home to Girona last time out in truth but a return of only one goal from three matches is clearly a worry for Javi Calleja, who may just start to come under some pressure if results don’t turn around soon.
There is though more reason to worry for Leganes, whose early results may be a sign of things to come as much as anything. They’ve lost some important players and the sale of playmaker Gabriel to Benfica late in the transfer window and for a fairly modest fee, may be something they really live to regret. Defensively they are looking much less solid this season too with 8 goals already conceded and that will be music to the ears of the Villarreal front-men.
Leganes vs Villarreal Predictions
Score Prediction: Leganes 1-1 Villarreal
This is a tough one to call. Villarreal are likely to come good eventually but that will take time and you sense they may have changed too much this summer, particularly in the final third where new relationships take time to develop. They have more quality than Leganes but Butarque can be a tricky place to go and Leganes showed they haven’t completely lost that fighting spirit with their comeback draw against Sociedad. With the Yellow Submarine not quite firing yet, they may get a draw here too.
Leganes vs Villarreal Match Stats
- Leganes have won their last two home games against Villareal (in league and cup last season).
- Villarreal have taken just 1 point from their 2 top flight visits to Butarque.
- Leganes have lost 6 of their last 9 league games.
- Villarreal have only won 2 of their last 9 away in La Liga.
- Last season in Madrid, they took 4 points off Atleti and Real but lost heavily at Getafe and Leganes, conceding 7 goals overall in those 2 matches.
One to Watch – Karl Toko Ekambi
Liga ?? | J3
Villarreal 0⃣-1⃣ Girona
Malgré la titularisation de Toko Ekambi??, auteur de nombreuses tentatives de buts, Villarreal concède sa deuxième défaite de la saison. pic.twitter.com/FISRO6eGWs
— Parlons Foot 237 (@ParlonsFoot237) September 1, 2018
Karl Toko Ekambi thought he’d scored his first Villarreal goal against Girona a fortnight ago. So did everyone inside the Ceramica but it was belatedly ruled out by VAR and he will be hoping to make amends here.
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Predicted Line Ups
Possible Leganes Team:
Cuellar – Juanfran, Munos, Slovas, Silva – Gumbau, Perez – Zhar, Eraso, Santos – Carrillo (4-2-3-1)
Possible Villarreal Team:
Asenjo – Gaspar, Gonzalez, Ruiz, Pedraza – Fornals, Iturra, Trigueros – Cazorla – Ekambi, Moreno (4-3-1-2)
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