Hajduk Split vs Villarreal Match Analysis and Prediction

4 years ago 748

Villarreal will make a trip to Croatia to take on Hajduk Split on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa Conference League playoff tie.

Unai Emery’s side will travel with a two-goal aggregate lead, having come out of an eventful contest in Spain with a 4-2 victory on that night.

Hajduk Split were drawn against Vitoria de Guimaraes, after earning a place in the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, and got on the front foot in the two-legged tie with a 3-1 home victory, before narrowly seeing out an aggregate win despite losing 1-0 away from home.

Valdas Dambrauskas’ side then travelled to Spain for the first leg of their contest with Villarreal last week, and they made a positive start as Stipe Biuk opened the scoring in the second minute, only for the hosts to turn the game around and go 4-1 up by half time.

Marco Fossati was at least able to salvage some hope for his side with an 85th-minute penalty, and now off the back of a league victory over Lokomotiva, they will hope to overturn the deficit on home turf and defy the odds to reach the group stage.

Having finished seventh in La Liga last season, Villarreal had to settle for a place in qualifying for Europa Conference League, despite going on an impressive run in last year’s Champions League as they defeated Juventus and Bayern Munich to reach the semi-finals, only to be eliminated by Lverpool.

Emery’s side hosted Hajduk Split in the first leg of their first continental tie of the season, and they quickly came from behind to move into the ascendancy.

The Yellow Submarine now have the chance of going into the group stage of the Europa Conference League as one of the favourites for the trophy.

Hajduk Split vs Villarreal head to head

The two teams have previously met on just one occasion in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifying playoff-round tie, where Villarreal claimed a 4-2 home victory.

Villarreal 4-2 Hajduk Split 18/08/22

Hajduk Split latest home form

Hajduk Split have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their three most recent matches. They managed to defeat Lokomotiva Zagreb 2-1 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded eight.

Hajduk Split 0-2 CFR Cluj 25/06/22

Hajduk Split 0-3 Gent 01/07/22

Hajduk Split 1-1 Kisvarda 02/07/22

Hajduk Split 3-1 Vitoria Guimaraes 04/08/22

Hajduk Split 2-1 Lokomotiva Zagreb 21/08/22

Hajduk Split latest away form

Hajduk Split have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having lost each of their three most recent matches. They lost 4-2 to Villarreal in their last away game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded nine.

Istra 1961 0-2 Hajduk Split 17/07/22

Varazdin 0-2 Hajduk Split 30/07/22

Vitoria Guimaraes 1-0 Hajduk Split 10/08/22

Dinamo Zagreb 4-1 Hajduk Split 13/08/22

Villarreal 4-2 Hajduk Split 18/08/22

Villarreal latest home form

Villarreal have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their four most recent matches. They defeated Hajduk Split 4-2 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded nine.

Villarreal 2-3 Liverpool 03/05/22

Villarreal 1-1 Sevilla 08/05/22

Villarreal 1-2 Real Sociedad 15/05/22

Villarreal 3-1 Levante 03/08/22

Villarreal 4-2 Hajduk Split 18/08/22

Villarreal latest away form

Villarreal have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their 11 most recent matches. They managed to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded four.

Southampton 1-2 Villarreal 30/07/22

Fulham 1-1 Villarreal 31/07/22

Inter Milan 2-4 Villarreal 06/08/22

Real Valladolid 0-3 Villarreal 13/08/22

Atletico Madrid 0-2 Villarreal 21/08/22

Hajduk Split news

In their desperate search for goals on Thursday, Hajduk Split could call on another striker, with veteran Nikola Kalinic expected to come in and join Marko Livaja up front.

Marco Fossati will also hope to feature from the outset in midfield, while Lukas Grgic and Filip Krovinovic continue to play crucial midfield roles.

Villarreal news

Veteran Pepe Reina is again set to play between the sticks for Villarreal, while Aissa Mandi and Manu Morlanes will be given further chances in defence and midfield respectively.

Morlanes should partner Francis Coquelin in the midfield, while star man Gerard Moreno is likely to be rested for the second leg.

Prediction and Odds

Hadjuk Split will certainly come out in an attacking manner with nothing to lose as they will be looking to overturn the tie to their favour.

However, we see Villarreal having the quality to not only put off the hosts’ attempts, but also to punish their potentially compromised defensive structure.

Odds: 1 2.30 X 2.00 2 2.10