Villarreal vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction & Betting Tips - LaLiga

Prediction published on 28/04/2024, 04:00  by Kennedy Kechula in LaLiga Predictions

This Sunday, European football hopefuls Villarreal have a home game against Rayo Vallecano, who are looking to confirm their survival in La Liga. Villarreal are currently nine points below the closest European football slot while Rayo are nine points above the drop zone. With 18 points still to play for, Villarreal will stay hopeful they can grab a spot in Europe. To do that, they’ll need to be more consistent than they've been, having won once in the last three matches. They did well to see off a stubborn Almeria side 2-1 in their last outing. That win didn’t come easily as Alexander Sørloth had to notch a 90th minute winner against 10-man Almeria. It was a welcome win, having collected just a point in their earlier two matches. Villarreal have suffered just one defeat in their last 12 league matches – at home to Atletico Madrid. In their last seven matches alone, they registered five wins. The hosts come here also having lost only once in their last seven home matches in La Liga.

Rayo Vallecano aren’t in immediate danger of falling into the relegation dogfight. However, with 34 points banked so far, they still need to fight for their place in La Liga. The visitors have injected some stability in their recent run, going undefeated in the last four matches. Two of them ended in draws, and they failed to score in three of the last five games. Los Franjirrojos are coming from a 2-1 win over Osasuna, having fought from a goal down to win. In recent meetings they’ve been a thorn to Villarreal, and come here unbeaten in three. They won two of those but not the reverse fixture; that ended 1-1, with Rayo equalizing just a minute after Sørloth’s opener. Rayo’s seemingly sold away run seems to be abandoning them. They have no win in the last seven away matches, losing five of those, and failing to score in four.