Villarreal vs Mallorca: La Liga GAMETHREAD

After a great first half performance and a late winner against Celta on Saturday we host Mallorca today in a must win La Liga match. After Granada’s dramatic draw with Betis yesterday, we are one point out of 8th with a game in hand, and two points shy of Valencia in 7th. Until we get some kind of Copa Del Rey resolution, I’m presuming 7th place is where we need to get for Europe. The bats have Real Madrid on Thursday which should make this a golden opportunity for us to at least draw level with them in this round of fixtures, setting us up for a huge match with Granada on Friday.

We need be sharp from the outset in this one. As badly as Mallorca was beaten their last time out we need to hit them early and get them to drop their heads, if we can do that, we should be in for a smooth ride.

Iborra is suspended for this one, which is just as well, we’ll need him a lot down the stretch of this season and he’s hardly a young player, so it will be good for him to get a few days off before Granada. With five substitutions available per match and a thick schedule, the ability of managers to impact the remainder of this season is at an all time high, which makes me personally even more adamantly ‘Europe or bust’ for Calleja’s job situation.

Lineups:

Let us know what you think about the match as it happens in the comments below!