Villarreal-Real Betis PREVIEW

All-time record:  Villarreal haven't done that well against Betis at home: 4 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses in the Primera, 14 goals for, 16 against.   Last match (March 2014) ended 1-1, with goals by Bruno and Ruben Castro and Ike Uche sent off.

Interestingly, we have only defeated Betis by more than one goal once, a 3-1 win in December 2003 at Betis's ground; all the goals came in the last 15 minutes of play!

Real Betis:  Pepe Mel was fired again last weekend, the team under interim coach Juan Merino losing 4-0 to crosstown rivals Sevilla in the Copa.  Betis currently lie 15th in the table and have scored only 13 goals, lowest in the division.  They have won four away matches so far, but they were against Sporting, Malaga, Levante and Rayo Vallecano.  The alarm bells went off with two losses to fellow strugglers (Getafe and Las Palmas) and a blowout home loss to Eibar.

Jorge Molina was the last player to score a goal in the league for Betis....on December 5.

Villarreal:  The Yellow Submarine tasted defeat in the Copa as well, but having made the decision to prioritize the league, now it's time to show that choice was a good one.  Samuel Garcia is out with a foot problem, Jaume Costa is still recovering from injury.  Our squad is:

• Keepers: Barbosa and Areola.
• Defenders: Rukavina, Mario, Víctor Ruiz, Bailly, Musacchio and Adrián Marín.
• Midfielders: Pina, Bruno, Trigueros, Jonathan dos Santos, Denis Suárez, Samu Castillejo and Nahuel.
• Strikers: Soldado, Leo Baptistao and Bakambu.

Early in the season we weren't sure what our first XI was; now we know.  Expect to see it out there tomorrow except for Jaume Costa.

Prediction: Betis will try to keep the game in front of them for a while, but Villarreal to win, 2-0.