Villarreal at Betis: La Liga Preview

This is what is often known as a trap game. After a huge, emotional victory against a strong opponent, we come up against a club in Betis that is an absolute mess from the top to bottom. We should be able to take care of business but we can’t take our opponents for granted.

Our opponents

The last time we faced Betis, it was a lot of fun. Rubi is no longer the manager but Calleja completely outclassed him in that contest as a brace from Toko, and goals from Santi, Gerard, and Chukwueze saw us run out 5-1 winners. It’s worth noting though, that this match was tied until the 68th minute.

Fortunately, Betis has little to play for but pride. They are not really at risk for the drop, they aren’t going to Europe, and they won’t have any fans to inspire them in the stands. We just have to show up and take care of business.

Villarreal

I expect to see a good amount of rotation here, since we are on much shorter rest than last match and three of our substitutions were very late. I wouldn’t be shocked if Santi didn’t play at all, Alberto and Pena were the fullbacks, and Morlanes and Bacca started as well.

This is where we ought to be able to maximize our depth to get a result and stay in European places, and we’ll need to do that because the next handful of matches after this one will be an absolute bear.

Predictions

The club has me feeling confident (though that itself worries me, lol). I’m predicting a 2-0 win.