Villarreal vs Sivasspor predictions and match preview for Thursday’s game in the UEFA Europa League. Read on for the head-to-head and betting tips as the Yellow Submarine return to European competition.
- DATE: Thursday 22nd October 2020
- KICK-OFF: 21:00 (local time)
- VENUE: Estadio Ceramica
- COMPETITION: UEFA Europa League (Group Stage)
Villarreal vs Sivasspor Preview
After a relatively rare year away, Villarreal are back in European competition on Thursday as they begin their Europa League campaign against Turkish side Sivasspor. The Yellow Submarine were dealt a favourable draw in terms of the level of teams in their group but will want to take full advantage of their home games to enable them to rest players for the long away trips to Turkey, Israel and Azerbaijan.
Villarreal have never won a major trophy but they had several good runs in Europe and will certainly expect to progress into the knockout stages of this season’s Europa League. This is in fact the tenth time that they’ve been involved in the group stage of this competition and they’ve never failed to secure passage into the knockout rounds.
Their early season form in LaLiga has been pretty encouraging as Unai Emery, a Europa League specialist himself, aims to make his mark on this team. They come into this game following a derby win against Valencia with Dani Parejo starring and netting the winner against his former club. Currently sitting 2nd in LaLiga, they will be firm favourites in this match.
Sivasspor by comparison are relative European novices. Only once previously have they participated in either of the two main UEFA competitions. That was the 2009/10 season when they lost qualifiers in both the Champions League and Europa League. They enjoyed a strong 2019/20 campaign in Turkey though, finishing above the likes of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce to seal a place in the Europa League group stage for the first time.
Head to Head
- The sides have never previously met.
Villarreal vs Sivasspor Predictions
Score Prediction: Villarreal 3-1 Sivasspor
Villarreal’s extra experience and quality should enable them to get off to a winning start in this group. Unai Emery is an absolute specialist in this competition and usually gets the balance right in terms of rotation. He will be eager to take the pressure off the long away trips in this group by getting the job done at home and we should see Villarreal claim maximum points here with the likes of Kubo, Francis Coquelin and Carlos Bacca potentially coming into the XI that beat Valencia.
UEFA Europa League Betting Tips (18+)
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Read our latest Champions League & Europa League match previews.
