Austria Vienna vs Villarreal Match Analysis and Prediction

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Villarreal will be looking to quickly bounce back from a defeat in La Liga at the weekend when they face Austria Vienna in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

While the hosts claimed a vital victory over arch-rivals Rapid Vienna with a 2-1 away win, the visitors extended their winless run in the league to four matches after a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad.

Despite losing 3-0 and 5-0 in the build-up to the 329th Wiener derby, Austria Vienna picked up a huge victory over their fierce city rivals through goals from Muharem Huskovic and Dominik Fitz.

That victory has seen them move into fifth place in the Austrian Bundesliga, after a slow start to the season saw them quickly fall away from Red Bull Salzburg and LASK in the race for the title.

A huge defeat to Villarreal last Thursday put what could be an irreparable dent in their goal diference, now sitting bottom of the group with one goal scored and nine conceded so far.

After a 4-0 victory over Elche at the start of September, Villarreal were the only side in Europe’s top five league yet to conceded a goal, and seemed one of the strongest sides in the race for the Champions League spots in La Liga.

Since then, after draws with Sevilla and Cadiz, along with defeats to Real Betis and Real Sociedad, Unai Emery’s side seem to be sinking to the lower spots of the top half once again under their Basque coach.

The most dangerous player for the Yellow Submarine on Sunday against Real Sociedad was summer signing Jode Luis Morales, coming on at half time and taking three of his side’s five shots on the day, though he is still with only one league start to his name since his move from Levante.

Austria Vienna vs Villarreal head to head

These two teams have previously met on just one occasion in the Europa Conference League on October 6, where Villarreal claimed a 5-0 home victory.

Villarreal 5-0 Austria Vienna 06/10/22

Austria Vienna latest home form

Austria Vienna were beaten 3-0 by Sturm Graz in their last home game in the league. However, they have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their previous three games. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded seven.

Austria Vienna 0-2 Fenerbahce 18/08/22

Austria Vienna 2-2 Austria Lustenau 03/09/22

Austria Vienna 0-0 Hapoel Be’er Sheva 08/09/22

Austria Vienna 3-0 Ried 18/09/22

Austria Vienna 0-3 Sturm Graz 02/10/22

Austira Vienna latest away form

Austria Vienna have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just two of their six most recent matches. They defeated Rapid Vienna 2-1 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded 10.

Slegendorf 0-5 Austria Vienna 31/08/22

Hartberg 0-3 Austria Vienna 11/09/22

Lech Poznan 4-1 Austria Vienna 15/09/22

Villarreal 5-0 Austria Vienna 06/10/22

Rapid Vienna 1-2 Austria Vienna 09/10/22

Villarreal latest home form

Villarreal have recently been on a good run of form at home having been unbeaten in their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Austria Vienna 5-0 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored 18 goals and conceded six.

Villarreal 4-2 Hajduk Split 18/08/22

Villarreal 4-0 Elche 04/09/22

Villarreal 4-3 Lech Poznan 08/09/22

Villarreal 1-1 Sevilla 18/09/22

Villarreal 5-0 Austria Vienna 06/10/22

Villarreal latest away form

Villarreal have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored two goals and conceded three.

Getafe 0-0 Villarreal 28/08/22

Real Betis 1-0 Villarreal 11/09/22

Hapoel Be’er Sheva 1-2 Villarreal 15/09/22

Cadiz 0-0 Villarreal 01/10/22

Real Sociedad 1-0 Villarreal 09/10/22

Austria Vienna news

Austria Vienna managed to navigate the weekend’s derby without picking up any fresh injury concerns, and Schmid could field a similar side to the one that earned that win.

Andreas Gruber came back into the side after missing against Villarreal last week, and is likely to keep his place after providing an important assist.

Villarreal news

Gerard Moreno has reportedly suffered a setback in his injury rehabilitation process, and could miss another month of action.

Juan Foyth will also miss out again on Thursday with a knee injury, but Alberto Moreno could get some valuable minutes to his name after making the bench at the weekend.

Prediction and Odds

After an impressive victory over their Austrian opponents last week, it is hard to back against Villarreal in this contest, even after their disappointing defeat in league action.

We are expecting to see a slightly more competitive from Austria Vienna on Thursday with home advantage on their side, though we expect an away win.

Odds: 1 2.32 X 2.05 2 2.20