Villarreal at Granada: La Liga Preview

After holding the league leaders to a nil-nil last time out and going to face a team we haven’t lost to in our last eleven contests, what could possibly go wrong? Oh wait, that’s right, this is Villarreal we are talking about. Many things could go wrong.

Our Opponents

Granada have lost four in a row. They’ve sunk to 17th in the La Liga table and they are certainly more talented than being in that position. This is a team that will be desperate for points playing in front of their home fans, and that should not be taken lightly at all.

Jorge Molina and Luis Suarez are the two danger men here. Molina is pushing 40 and can’t bring it every week like he used to, but he can be extremely scary coming off the bench on his day. If we defend like we did last week, we’ll suffocate this team. If we don’t, we could have a stressful day on our hands.

Villarreal

I don’t expect Gerard to play in this one. I think the plan is to have him ready to go for Juventus if possible. The biggest thing I am hoping is that we do not see a repeat of Danjuma at the 9 position. I would rather run Yeremy or Trigueros there if that’s what it takes to get Danjuma in his natural position. That shouldn’t be necessary, though, as Boulaye Dia has now had enough time to recuperate from AFCON that he should be ready.

The hard part at this juncture of the season is that Unai makes the most unpredictable decisions with regard to rotations when there are European matches coming up. He might play his best lineup and rely on the rest days or he may play an entire second unit, who knows.

Prediction.

I think we win this one 2-0. It may be hairy at times, but we are better than this team.