Villarreal vs Leganés

Chasing Champions League-bound Villarreal will seek to stretch a run of third consecutive win when they host Leganes who are relegation bound, in their backyard, the Estadio de la Ceramica, on Wednesday.

Languishing on the drop zone, the Leganes would want to improve its dwindling hopes of staying alive with consecutive wins.

Villarreal are hoping to get Champions League football for the first time since they qualified for it after winning the Europa League in the 2020-21 season.

The Yellow Submarine, having been accumulating 61 points off 35 games, are in the fifth and the final Champions League position, trailing just a point behind Athletic Bilbao who have 62 points and with three points more over Real Betis in the sixth place who have amassed 58 points.

The Yellow Submarine have gone on to form some real momentum over the past periods, having managed to register a 3-game winning streak since getting heavily beaten by 3-0 on a road trip to Celta Vigo on March 23rd.

Villarreal had registered back to back home wins against Espanyol and Osasuna before they managed to get dramatic 1-0 win on Saturday as they beat Girona away 1-0 through Karl Etta Eyong’s 89th minute effort.

The team of Marcelino will now be eyeing the fourth La Liga victory in a row since they beat Real Sociedad, Granada, Real Betis and Valencia in a four-match sequence back in February/March 2024 after their third consecutive victory.

They will relish their opportunities of pulling off that trick after winning five of their previous six league matches with Leganes, including a breath taking 5-2 win on the side’s previous meeting in Butarque in December where they turned the score line from 1-2 and 2-3 in their favor.

And Leganés provided their survival drive a much-wished-for fillip when beating Espanyol 3-2, Sunday at home.

Seydouba Cisse scored the opener before 18-year-old Yan Diomande got his first ever La Liga goal to give his new club Leganes a healthy two goal lead after first half.

Borja Jimenez’s side seemed headed for a straightforward victory after Marash Kumbulla’s own goal extended their lead to 3-0 just after the hour mark. However, Espanyol’s late strikes in the 79th and 98th minutes forced Leganes to fight hard to hold on for all three points.

The win snapped an eight-game winless streak, though Leganes have now gone four matches unbeaten—following three consecutive draws before Sunday’s narrow triumph. Despite the upturn in form, they remain in 18th place, just one point behind Alaves, with three crucial fixtures remaining against Villarreal, Las Palmas, and Real Valladolid.

While Los Pepineros celebrated their sixth home league win this weekend, their away form has been a major concern. They’ve managed just one victory in 17 La Liga away matches this season (D9, L7), with their only success coming in a shock December win over Barcelona.

As they prepare for Wednesday’s trip to Villarreal, Leganes may take confidence from their last visit to Estadio de la Ceramica in March 2020, where they secured a 2-1 victory.