Villarreal – Valencia

Villarreal and Valencia are set to play the last meaningful football match of 2015, as the two teams square off in an important La Liga clash on New Year’s eve.

The hosts are riding some good form right now, winning three Primera Division matches in a row without conceding a single goal – and climbing to the 5th place in the table in the process. Villarreal will finish the year on the 4th place with a win or a draw today, so they will surely not want to blow this chance at home.

Valencia (10th place) has 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss in all competitions since Gary Neville took over, but their Primera Division form is extremely worrying. Valencia has not won a game in La Liga in almost two months, recording 4 draws and 1 loss in this time span. They are on the back of a 2-2 result against Getafe.

Bet now on Villarreal vs Valencia with the best Primera Division odds at 1xbet.com

Team news & lineups:

Bonera and Adrian are out for Villarreal, while Bailly and Jokic are doubtful. Valencia will not have Bakkali, Feghouli and Alves in the lineup. Rodrigo and Gaya are doubtful.

Villarreal: Areola – Gaspar, Musacchio, Ruiz, Costa – Santos, Bruno, Trigueros, Suarez – Soldado, Bakambu

Valencia: Jaume – Barragan, Abdennour, Mustafi, Gaya – Gomes, Fuego, Parejo – Mina, Piatti, Paco Alcacer

This looks like it could be a good old fashioned draw. Villarreal might be in better form, but all their wins were close and Valencia became a specialist in getting draws out of close matches. The visitors will come to El Madrigal desperate not to lose and, for all their struggles, they can at least pride themselves that they are hard to defeat. It’s valid for both teams actually, as each side is usually involved in draws or 1 goal wins, allowing less than 1 goal per game, but not scoring too much – generally playing careful, pragmatic football.

I don’t think Villarreal has the strength to edge an ultra motivated, hungry Valencia team, but on the other hand one must be very brave to bet on the visitors. Odds on Villarreal are way too low and I reckon there is some good value in a draw, so that will be my tip. Small stakes, I`m viewing this more like a combination of value and some good old fun on New Year’s Eve – but with a solid potential return of investment. The previous meeting this year ended 0-0 and I could see a similar result today. Prediction: Villarreal – Valencia 0-0.

Pick: Draw
Odds: 3.55 @ 1xBet
Stake: 3
Possible profit: 7.65
Event date: 31 December