Villarreal will be looking to take a step closer to the Europa Conference League group stage on Thursday, when they welcome Hajduk Split to Spain for the first leg of their playoff tie.
While the hosts are yet to play in qualification so far this season, while the visitors scraped past Vitoria de Guimaraes in the third round to reach this stage.
Villarreal find themselves in Europa Conference League qualifying after a slightly disappointing La Liga season last season, as they eventually finished seventh with 59 points from 38 league matches.
However, they did enjoy more success on the continent, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League as they firstly progressing through the group stage in second place before defeating Juventus and Bayern Munich in impressive style on their way to the final.
That saw Unai Emery’s side book a tie with Liverpool, and after a 2-0 defeat at Anfield, they fought well to draw level in the second leg, only for the English giants to retake control in the second half and storm to a 5-2 aggregate win.
They play host to a Hajduk Split side who have already had to battle through a qualifying round after their second-placed finish in the Craotian top flight last season.
They were drawn against Vitoria de Guimaraes, and they took a 3-1 lead into the return match through goals from Emir Sahti, Dario Melnjak and Filip Krovinovic.
That lead was quickly halved in the second leg, but the Majstori held on to see out an aggregate victory and progress to the playoff.
Now off the back of a 4-1 defeat against league leaders Dinamo Zagreb in their third league game of the season, Hajduk will seek to earn a positive result at the Estadio de la Ceramica before welcoming Villarreal to Croatia next week.
Villarreal vs Hajduk Split head to head
The two teams have not previously met in any competition and this will be their first meeting in the first half of their Europa Conference League qualifying playoff-round tie.
Villarreal latest home form
Villarreal have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Levante 3-1 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded seven.
Villarreal 2-0 Valencia 19/04/22
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 latest away form
Villarreal have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their 10 most recent matches. They managed to defeat Real Valladolid 3-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded four.
Reims 0-1 Villarreal 24/07/22
Southampton 1-2 Villarreal 30/07/22
Fulham 1-1 Villarreal 31/07/22
Inter Milan 2-4 Villarreal 06/08/22
Real Sociedad 0-3 Villarreal 13/08/22
Hajduk Spilt latest home form
Hajduk Split have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their six most recent matches. They defeated Vitoria Guimaraes 3-1 in their last home game in the Europa Conference League. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded eight.
Hajduk Split 3-1 Istra 1961 14/05/22
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 latest away form
Hajduk Split 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 4-1 to Dinamo Zagreb in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded five.
Dinamo Zagreb (P)0-0 Hajduk Split 09/07/22
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 news
Dani Parejo, Etienne Capoue and Francis Coquelin are all vying to feature in midfield with Samuel Chukwueze and Jose Luis Morales hoping to come in on the wings.
Alex Baena will hope to be rewarded with a start after coming off the bench to hit a brace in the win over Real Valladolid.
Hajduk Split news
Hajduk Split’s attack is set to be led by Marko Livaja, who has scored three goals in the opening three league matches of the season, with Emir Sahiti another attacking threat.
Toni Borevkovic will hope for a first continental start, with Josip Elez and Stefan Simic bidding to keep their places.
Prediction and Odds
We are yet to see whether Villarreal will prioritise building a run in Europe’s third competition, but they should have more than enough to beat Hajduk Split on home turf.
Emery has plenty of quality throughout his squad and their array of attacking talent will likely overpower their Croatian visitors.
Odds: 1 1.82 X 2.00 2 2.20
Probable outcomes
Villarreal 2-0 Hajduk Split
Villarreal 2-1 Hajduk Split
Villarreal 3-0 Hajduk Split
Villarreal 3-1 Hajduk Split
Villarreal 4-1 Hajduk Split
