Villarreal vs Elche Match Analysis and Prediction

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Villarreal will be looking to extend their impressive start to the 2022-23 La Liga campaign when the host Elche at Esatadio de la Ceramica on Sunday.

The hosts, who are fifth in the table on seven points, will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with Getafe, while Elche lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad last time out.

Villarreal kicked off their new La Liga season with a 3-0 victory at Real Valladolid on August 13 before claiming a 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at Wanda Metropolitano a week later.

Unai Emery’ side also defeated Hajduk Split home and away in the Europa Conference League playoffs to book their place in the group stage of the competition, but they enter this contest off the back of a goalless draw with Getafe.

The Yellow Submarine have another five fixtures before the September international break, facing Elche, Real Betis and Sevilla in the league, in addition to Lech Poznan and Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the Europa Conference League.

Meanwhile, Elche are playing in a third straight season at this level of football for the first time since 1976, finishing 17th and 13th in their last two campaigns.

Francisco’s side finished 13th in La Liga last season, which proved to be their joint-highest finish at that level of foolball since 1977, so they are in a good moment in their history.

However, Los Franjiverdes have found it difficult at the start of the 2022-23 campaign, picking up only one point from their three matches, which has left them in 17th place in the table.

Elche suffered a 3-0 defeat to Real Betis in their opening game of the season before playing out a 1-1 draw with Almeria a week later, but they lost 1-0 at home to Real Sociedad last time out.

Villarreal vs Elche head to head

The two teams have previously met on 18 occasions across all competitions, where Villarreal have claimed six victories while Elche have won four, and they have drawn in eight. Villarreal have scored 23 goals and conceded 18. In their last five meetings, Elche have won one, Villarreal two with two draws.

Villarreal 1-0 Elche 10/05/15

Villarreal 0-0 Elche 06/12/20

Elche 2-2 Villarreal 06/02/21

Villarreal 4-1 Elche 22/09/21

Elche 1-0 Villarreal 16/01/22

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 13 most recent matches. They played out a goalless draw with Getafe in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded two.

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 0-2 Villarreal 25/08/22

Getafe 0-0 Villarreal 28/08/22

Elche latest home form

Elche have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded seven.

Elche 1-3 Villarreal II 20/07/22

Elche 2-1 Leganes 23/07/22

Elche 0-1 Ibiza 02/08/22

Elche 1-1 Almeria 22/08/22

Elche 0-1 Real Sociedad 27/08/22

Elche latest away form

Elche have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two of their six most recent matches. They lost 3-0 to Real Betis in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded six.

Celta Vigo 1-0 Elche 15/05/22

Getafe 0-1 Elche 23/07/22

FC Cartagena 2-0 Elche 30/07/22

La Nucia 0-3 Elche 07/08/22

Real Betis 3-0 Elche 15/08/22

Villarreal news

Villarreal will again be without Alberto Moreno through injury, while Juan Foyth is likely to be unavailable due to the knee problem he suffered against Getafe.

As a result, Kiko Femenia could come into the side at right-back, while Samuel Chukwueze and Gerard Moreno could start in the final third of the field.

Elche news

Gonzalo Verdu and Fidel remain out for Elche with groin and hamstring issues respectively, while Ezequiel Ponce and Roger Marti are again set to operate as the front two.

Raul Guti is again expected to be on the bench, with Gerard Gumbau set to keep his spot in the midfield.