Villarreal vs Lech Poznan Match Analysis and Prediction

4 years ago 688

Villarreal will be looking to extend their fine European campaign when they take on Lech Poznan on Thursday in the first round of the Europa Conference League group-stage fixtures.

Unai Emery’s side cruised past Hajduk Split in the playoff round, while their opponents had to fight through a longer qualifying run to reach Europe’s third tier competition.

It may be somewhat supposing to see Villarreal featuring in the group stage of Europe’s thrid competition this season, given the Yellow Submarine impressed last year on the biggest stage with a run to the Champions League semi-finals.

Emery’s side finished second in their group and fought past Juventus and Bayern Munich in two-legged knockout contests before eventually meeting Liverpool, and after a 2-0 home defeat, they looked to have staged a comeback at Anfield only for the Reds to retake control and win 5-2 on aggregate.

With no prize for a semi-final appearance, their underwhelming seventh-placed finish was only enough to earn Villarreal a place in the playoff round of the Europa Conference League, and they comfortably beat Hajduk Split, firstly winning 4-2 on home turf before triumphing 2-0 in their second leg in Croatia to fire them through to the group stage.

Lech Poznan make the trip to Spain hoping to cause an upset after fighting through several rounds of continental fixtures, firstly entering Champions League qualifying and dropping out against Qarabag.

They would then join the second round of Conference League qualifying and cruise past Dinamo Batumi with a 6-1 aggregate win, before fighting from behind to eliminate Vikingur Reykjavik and advance to the playoff.

Lech Poznan were drawn against Diddeleng and took a 2-0 lead on home soil through Mikael Ishak and Kristoffer Velde, before Joel Pereira levelled the second leg at a goal apiece to secure a 3-1 aggregate win for the Kolejorz.

Villarreal vs Lech Poznan head to head

These two teams have not previously met on any occasion and this will be their first meeting in the Europa Conference League group stages.

Villarreal latest home form

Villarreal have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Elche 4-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded six.

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 4-0 Elche 04/09/22

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

Lech Poznan latest home form

Lech Poznan have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They defeated Widzew Lodz 2-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded two.

Lech Poznan (E)4-1 Vikingur Reykjavik 11/08/22

Lech Poznan 0-1 Slask Wroclaw 14/08/22

Lech Poznan 2-0 F91 Dudelange 18/08/22

Lech Poznan 1-0 Piast Gliwice 28/08/22

Lech Poznan 2-0 Widzew Lodz 04/09/22

Lech Poznan latest away form

Lech Poznan have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They defeated Lechia Gdansk 3-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded four.

Dinamo Batumi 1-1 Lech Poznan 28/07/22

Vikingur Reykjavik 1-0 Lech Poznan 04/08/22

Zaglebie Lubin 1-1 Lech Poznan 07/08/22

F91 Dudelange 1-1 Lech Poznan 25/08/22

Lechia Gdansk 0-3 Lech Poznan 31/08/22

Villarreal news

The likes of Dani Parejo and Gerard Moreno may be rested for this contest, with veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina replacing first-choice stopper Geronimo Rulli between the sticks.

Summer signing Jose Luis Morales should come back in to lead the line from the outset after his goal against Elche off-bench.

Lech Poznan news

Captain Mikael Ishak is again set to lead the line for Lech Poznan after scoring six goals in 12 appearances for far this season, including three in five Conference League qualifying matches.

Defender Antonio Milic will return to contention after serving a suspension in the second leg of their win over Dudelange and should rejoin Maksymilian Pingot in the back four.

Ishak will again support Joao Amaral up front, while Kristoffer Velde and Michal Skoras should continue on the flanks in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Prediction and Odds

Lech Poznan head into their group stage curtain-raiser off the back of three straight league wins, and will feel confident of picking up a positive result on Thursday.

However, Villarreal have quality in abundance and should still have more than enough to cruise to a victory in front of their fans.

Odds: 1 1.88 X 2.00 2 2.20