- Villarreal have won 1, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 5 matches (including friendlies).
- Real Betis have won 3 and lost 2 of their last 5 fixtures.
- Betis have won 1 and lost 1 of their 2 away LaLiga 2026/2027 trips.
Two inconsistent sides clash at Estadio de la Ceramica
Villarreal CF are 17th in the LaLiga 2026/2027 standings with two points from four matches and are already in danger of falling behind after two consecutive defeats.
El Submarino Amarillo were beaten 1-0 away at Deportivo Alaves prior to losing 3-2 at home to Deportivo A Coruna and it's pretty clear that Iñigo Pérez's side are not getting a good start to their 2026/2027 campaign.
Pérez took charge on 1st July 2026 and he has set up his Villarreal side to press the game higher up the field and win the ball back faster than they were under their previous manager. The evidence to date is that they can be picked off at times, but they have scored twice in their only home game, so there is enough bite in their game to suggest they can hurt the visitors on Monday.
Real Betis arrive at Estadio de la Ceramica in better form than their hosts with three wins and two defeats from their past five and in better overall position in the table.
Manuel Pellegrini's side are 4th in the early LaLiga 2026/2027 standings with nine points from a possible 12 and they have the sharper edge in the fixture, having beaten Valencia 1-0 away, lost 5-2 at Levante, and edged Real Madrid 1-0 at the weekend.
Betis to get a result in closely-matched clash
The gap in the league table between Villarreal (17th) and Real Betis (4th) suggests this game will be close, but the bookies are making the home side marginal favourites at around 1.9.
That doesn't look right considering Betis have an unbeaten record in their two most recent visits to play Villarreal CF.
The head-to-head record between the clubs also supports a Betis double chance bet, with Los Verdiblancos winning two, drawing one and losing two of their five most recent clashes with Villarreal.
Villarreal have failed to beat Betis in their past two home encounters, but Iñigo Pérez has a little more life in them than we saw in Villarreal last season and that could make a big difference in a very evenly matched match.
Game of chess or game of pace?
Pellegrini has kept things calm and composed at Betis since taking over in August 2020, but they are a possession-based side that likes to get the ball wide and probe between the lines, so this will be a game of pass and possession as far as he is concerned.
But Pérez wants to press and run at teams, which should make this a chess match between two very different sides, with Villarreal looking for turnovers and Betis looking to play through possession.
Real Betis are scoring 1.50 goals per game away and conceding 2.50 on average, so it's possible this will be an open, end-to-end match with goals at both ends, which makes both teams to score at 1.57 and over 2.5 goals at 1.65 both lean toward goals rather than a cagey stalemate.
Nicolas Pepe has been Villarreal's main danger man with two goals in four LaLiga 2026/2027 outings, while Rodrigo Riquelme has the same record for Betis.
