Villarreal vs Levante – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction | La Liga 2021-22

Dani Parejo-Gerard Moreno-Villarreal
Dani Parejo-Gerard Moreno-Villarreal

Another round of fixtures in La Liga come up on Monday with Villarreal hosting Levante at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Venue: Estadio de la Cerámica (Villarreal) 

Key Statistics

Villarreal have lost just one of their last seven games (W6).

The hosts have scored 73% of their league goals at home.

They have kept just one clean sheet in their last five La Liga games.

Both teams have scored in 50% of Villareal’s matches this season.

Levante have only scored first in five out of their 18 league games this season – the lowest number of times a team has opened the scoring in the La Liga this season.

The visitors are yet to win a league game this season. They’re the only team in La Liga yet to win a game this season.

They have conceded 36 goals this season, which is the most for teams in the Spanish top-flight.

Head to head

Villarreal have won six of the last ten competitive meetings between both teams. Levante have three wins and one draw from these games.

Latest Performances in all competitions

Villarreal: W-W-W-W-W

Levante: L-L-L-D-W

Villarreal

Villarreal will look to begin the new year the way they ended the previous year when they welcome Levante to Estadio de la Cerámica on the third of January.

The hosts won their last five games of 2021. Their last win was a 5-2 win over Alaves two weeks ago, ensuring that they entered the winter break sitting in the top half of the league table.

Unai Emery‘s side are on a three-match winning run in the league. They have won four of their last eight matches in La Liga. 

Overall, the Yellow Submarines have picked up an average of 1.39 points per league game since the beginning of the season. But over the last eight league matches, their points per game value has increased as they have averaged 1.63 in that period, which is 17.3% higher than their current season’s average.

With 25 points so far this season, Villarreal have picked up seven points less than they did last season after 18 matches.

However, with 20 matches still to play, the hosts will be desperate to improve on their season’s average. They will begin doing so by taking maximum points from this game.

Possible Villareal starting line-ups

Sergio Asenjo; Pervis Estupinan, Raul Albiol, Pau Torres, Ruben Pena; Manu Trigueros, Juan Foyth, Daniel Parejo; Moi Gomez, Fernando Nino, Gerard Moreno.

Injured: Paco Alcacer, Alberto Moreno, Francis Coquelin, Vicente Iborra, Mario Gaspar, Etienne Capoue.

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Levante

The year 2021 ended as one of Levante’s worst years in recent times, as they ended the year winless in their 18 opening league games. 

They are in their fourth consecutive season in La Liga, and were hoping to make progress this year. Instead, they are entering the new year as the only club in Europe’s top-five leagues yet to win a league game this season.

Their last outing was a 3-4 home defeat to Valencia, taking their points tally in the league to just eight points. They’re firmly rooted in the relegation zone, sitting last on the table, six points behind Cadiz in 19th.

They have lost five of their last 8 matches in La Liga and are averaging 1.06 goals per game in the league this season. 

The eight points they have won so so far this season is 14 points less than they did last season after 18 matches, and their total in the current season is also 18 points lower than it was two seasons ago at the same stage.

Their chances of survival look very slim. But they will hope to begin the new year on a fresh slate and will be desperate to pick up their first win of the season in this game.

Possible Levante starting line-ups

Aitor Fernandez; Carlos Clerc, Oscar Duarte, Coke, Jorge Miramon; Jose Luis Morales, Nemanja Radoja, Mickael Malsa, Jorge de Frutos; Roger Marti, Dani Gomez.

Injured: Jose Campana, Cheick Doukoure, Sergio Postigo, Ruben Vezo, Nikola Vukcevic

Doubtful: Enis Bardhi

Suspended: Rober Pier

Prediction

Villarreal 2-1 Levante