Las Palmas vs Villarreal Betting Tips

Las Palmas made something of a surprise decision to sack coach Paco Herrera in midweek following on from the 4-0 defeat at Getafe last weekend. Herrera had successfully guided the Gran Canaria club to promotion last season ending their 14 year absence from the top flight but lasted only 8 games into the new campaign.

His replacement is something of a surprise too with Segunda Division Lugo boss Quique Setién getting the role. Although he has plenty of managerial experience in Spain’s lower leagues he has never managed in the top flight and faces a big challenge to keep Las Palmas up.

They have lost all of their last 3 games and have already suffered home defeats against Eibar and Rayo Vallecano and this is far from an easy first task for the new boss.

Villarreal may have lost their last two matches in the league but they are still well placed, just 3 points off the top. Injury problems, particularly to their attacking players was most likely the reason behind their dip in form but the likes of Denis Suarez and Cedric Bakambu are back now and both started the 4-0 win over Dinamo Minsk on Thursday in the Europa League with the Bakambu bagging a brace, while his strike-partner Roberto Soldado was also on target.

Given they had only scored 4 goals in 5 games prior to that it was a welcome return to goalscoring form and although the opposition was weak it should provide them with a big lift ahead of this game.

This Villarreal side will look more like the one that won 5 Primera Division games in a row between late August and September and it could prove too strong for Las Palmas, who have looked very poor in recent weeks and even a change in manager is unlikely to have such an effect that they’ll be able to cope with an impressive Villarreal side. Therefore consider backing the visitors to win at 6/5.

Las Palmas have only scored in 1 of their 4 home matches so far and they are unlikely to get much change out of a solid Villarreal defence. They were beaten 2-0 by Eibar in their last home game and a repeat scoreline seems likely here and can be backed at 17/2.