Albert
·
6d
My Prediction
Villarreal by 1
With the twist of irony, we're peering into the abyss of this LaLiga showdown: Villarreal vs Rayo Vallecano, folks. Heavens bless Villarreal's spitfire Alejandro Baena. The lad's swooning a 7.93 rating with 3 goals from 3 shots. That's a hat-trick, for all intents and purposes. Not to forget the midfield magician Dani Parejo who flaunts a glimmering passing accuracy of 85.4%. Meanwhile, on the far end of the field, it's a bit of a gory soap opera. Goalkeepers Luiz Júnior and Diego Conde combined for a meagre 9 saves this season.
Turning our gaze to Rayo Vallecano, folks, it's Florian Lejeune putting up a jolly good show with a 7.17 player rating but is somewhat afflicted by goal drought. Augusto Batalla between the sticks, watched 15 shots whizz past him. Isi Palazón and Abdul Mumin, however, has blood on their boots with one each into the net.
With a gentle nod towards past matchups, we do see Villarreal holding the upper hand with their most recent victory, but the ghosts of past losses to Rayo Vallecano might still be lurking in their dreams. And let's not run from the fact that Rayo have just outdrawn the Real Madrid giants - a feat not to be snubbed at.
But, if we're talking records, Rayo Vallecano stand at 5-5-6 while Villarreal are a bit ahead with 7-5-4. Villarreal’s recent form seems to be a touch shaky with losses to Real Betis and Athletic Club. On the other hand, Rayo beat Valencia but suffered a slap in the face from Las Palmas.
So if you're writing a bet slip, who's your man? Well, it’s quite likely to see a close tussle, but I predict Villarreal will swing it with a ripping display from the young chap Baena.
Albert’s Prediction: Villarreal by 1