Mallorca vs Villarreal

Visit Mallorca Estadi is the venue as Mallorca and Villarreal lock horns in a competitive-looking La Liga contest.

After a dreadful 2-0 defeat at Sevilla last time out marked Mallorca’s fourth consecutive La Liga loss on the road without scoring, a return to Son Moix looks like a huge sigh of relief. In stark contrast to their woeful away form, ‘Los Piratas’ have won their last four top-flight matches at home for the first time since the 2009/10 season, including a stunning 1-0 victory over defending champions Real Madrid in their most recent home outing. Villarreal’s upcoming visit only strengthens Javier Aguirre’s bid to establish Mallorca as viable top-half contenders, with ‘Los Piratas’ going unbeaten in their last five top-flight H2Hs at home, conceding only once during that stretch. That’s in line with their hat-trick of 1-0 home league triumphs in 2023.

As for Villarreal, under-pressure manager Quique Setien starts to feel the heat after a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Barcelona last weekend extended his team’s ponderous losing league run to three games. Despite suffering a significant dip in form compared to a five-match unbeaten La Liga streak beforehand (W4, D1), ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ are still within a touching distance of coveted European placings. But a poor return of one win from their last five league travels (D1, L3) suggests that Villarreal’s bid to close a two-point gap on sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano doesn’t hold the water. You don’t have to look beyond their embarrassing 3-1 defeat at whipping boys Elche on their last league travel to understand the premise.