Villarreal-Getafe preview: no Gio and Bruno for Villarreal

Allen says:

Villarreal:  Musacchio and Jokic are still out, and while Hernán Pérez has begun training with the squad, he's not ready for action.   Gio dos Santos was injured in practice, and Bruno has a muscle strain, at least aggravated by 90 minutes in the cold and wet at Vigo for Spain.  Marcelino has named 19 players but will reduce the squad by one on the day:

• Keepers: Juan Carlos, Asenjo.
• Defenders: Mario, Rukavina, Jaume Costa, Adrián Marín, Dorado, Gabriel, Víctor Ruiz.
• Midfielders: Jonathan dos Santos, Pina, Trigueros, Moi Gómez, Cheryshev, Espinosa, Cani.
• Strikers: Gerard Moreno, Vietto y Uche.

Uche returned to practice yesterday and trained well, so I am expecting he and Gerard will start, though Vietto should see action at some point.  If Cani is OK, I look for a Cani-J dos-Trigueros-Moi midfield.  I'd look for Espinosa off the bench before Cheryshev; my sense is Getafe won't leave a lot of space in behind for us to run into at speed, this is likely to be about passing in tight spaces in attacking zones.

As for our back four, Mario and Gabriel are likely, after that I would personally go with Marín and Ruiz, but we may see Jaume Costa instead.

Yellow card accumulation:

It's starting to get to that point of the season where we have to concern ourselves with these!

4: Cheryshev

3: Mario, Gabriel, Jaume Costa, Trigueros, Moi

Our opponents: After a slow start to the season, Cosmin Contra's Getafe have gotten it together of late, losing only one of their last six matches.  And their big news is Pedro Leon is finally eligible to play, a judge ordering that the league accept his registration (Getafe hadn't registered him for fear of breaching their wage cap).  However, as of yesterday he had not been officially registered, and is not in the squad.

Their team call is:

Keepers: 1. Jona; 25. Guaita.

Defenders: 3. Roberto Lago; 4. Velázquez;  5. Naldo;12. A. Arroyo; 18. Escudero; 27. Vigaray.

Midfielders: 6. Sammir; 7. Lafita L.; 8. Lacen; 10. Sarabia; 11. Yoda; 17. D. Castro; 21. Míchel; 22. J. Rodríguez; 23. Freddy H..

Strikers: 15. Babá.

In case you hadn't figured it out, they are going to lay with a lot of guys behind the ball, and their midfield (Sammir, Lacen, Sarabia ,Lafita, Yoda) is the best part of their team.  With Bruno out, it's going to be key for J dos Santos and Trigueros to play well and cut off counterattacks early.

They will line up in a 4-2-3-1, and the 1 could be Sammir, Lafita, Babacar Diawara, whomever.  They have won their last two matches on the road, against Real Sociedad and Deportivo, by 2-1 scores.  Villarreal should be a tougher match, but Getafe have always played us tight and last year won in this fixture.

One ominous note is that they defeated Real Sociedad with two stoppage-time goals.  If we go a goal up but try to sit back and defend, it's going to be hard to keep them off the scoresheet.

Prediction: We've scored more than one goal in only 4 of 11 league matches; we've shut out the opposition only twice.  That would suggest 1-1.  I think that could well be so, unfortunately.  I'm going to hope for a 2-1 win though!

Robin says:

Villarreal will have to GETafe all the three points!
Villarreal are in desperate need of a victory to establish ourselves in this year's league. This Sunday the Yellows will be taking on a inform Getafe.  As I said before, our run up to Christmas looks less challenging but the yellows will have to take every chance. I believe even with injuries we will have a decent run. Getafe are only a point below us.
This promises to be a very desperate grudge match for both sides --one we will win. El madrigal will be abuzz as Villarreal have won six of our nine home games against Getafe in La Liga. They are a strong side similar to us but in our last two encounters we lost.

Many of view voiced your opinions that we struggle without injuries but we need to have a bit of faith in our youngsters. It will be a chance for Vietto, Gerard and possibly Jonathan to shine. I haven’t heard rumours on Espinosa but it would be great to see him get a run. Cani and Chev will be expected to play on the wings.
Getafe
Despite a slow start, Getafe are on somewhat of a run only losing one of their last six league games and that was at home to reigning champions Atletico Madrid.  Another stat that really isn’t looking good for us is Getafe have won more points with goals scored after the 89th minute than any other team this season (three). Where as many of you may know so far this season we have lost six points with goals conceded in the final 10 minutes of games this season
I have high hopes for this match, it seems to be only ever 2-1 victories for either side when we play so I am going to say a 2-1 victory to the yellows.
I know, the eternal optimist !