- Standings: Villarreal are 9th in the LaLiga 2026/2027 standings with 8 points from 7 games, Elche are 18th on 5 points.
- Head-to-head: Elche haven't won at Villarreal in their last away game, with Villarreal winning twice.
- Away form: Elche have won 1, tied 2 and lost 1 of their 4 away games in LaLiga 2026/2027, scoring 7 goals.
Villarreal the value to nick it at Estadio de la Ceramica
Match overview
This is probably not going to be one of the games of the weekend in Spain and certainly not a match for the average soccer fan, but Villarreal are the clear favorites at 1.42 with Elche at 6.5 and the draw at 4.7. It won't be an easy game for the hosts, who have won 1 and lost 2 of their 3 home games in the new campaign, but Elche have only won 1 of 4 on the road and lost 1, so we'll edge towards the home side here.
Tactics
Villarreal are playing a compact, structured game, with a disciplined trigger for pressing, while Elche will play as protagonists as much as possible, so it should be a classic possession vs pressing matchup on Saturday. Íñigo Pérez's men have been successful when they have been able to get on the front foot, scoring plenty of goals in patches, so this week's Betis defeat, which was their third loss in 5 matches, might not be a huge concern given they won 2 in a row before it.
Players to watch
We'll be going with Villarreal to nick it at home in the 90 minutes, although Elche's scoring form suggests this could be another tight and relatively open affair. Over 2.5 goals at 1.48 is the way to go, with both teams to score also in the game at 1.62.
- Pape Gueye has been the Submarino Amarillo's top scorer in LaLiga 2026/2027 with 3 goals from 7 appearances and will be the main runner from deep while also possessing the ability to be a very real late-box threat.
- Fer Nino has 5 goals in 7 games for the Franjiverdes and has scored 5 of Elche's 10 goals over the last 5 matches, giving Martin Anselmi's side the sharpness up front to be a threat every time they move forward.
- Tete Morente has also been in good shape for Elche with 3 assists in his last 5 appearances, having stitched some good attacks together in recent weeks.
- Elche's form has been patchy, but the 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao, 2-3 home defeat to Real Madrid and 1-3 away win at Espanyol have all shown their bite in the last 3 games.
