Villarreal vs Sporting Lisbon Predictions

Villarreal might be struggling domestically, but their good form in Europe continued last week when they recorded a 1-0 win over Sporting CP in Portugal in the 1st leg of their Europa League tie. That result means that with the home advantage this Thursday Villarreal are the favourites to qualify for the last sixteen. Sporting head into the 2nd leg on the back of a moral boosting victory over Primeira Liga rivals Braga and will believe they can turn this tie in their favour.

Villarreal picked up a huge three points in La Liga on Sunday with an impressive 3-0 win over Sevilla. The hosts didn’t see as much of the ball or create as many goal scoring opportunities as Sevilla during the ninety minutes, but another strong defensive display lead to their third clean sheet on the run and took them to within a point of safety. Braga have outperformed Sporting CP so far this season, but when the pair locked horns in the Primeira Liga it was the Lisbon based club that dominated. Star man Fernandes opened the scoring and top goalscorer Dost netted twice as Sporting cruised to victory and moved to within four points of their guests in the table. Sporting had 54% of the possession and created more goal scoring opportunities than Villarreal during the 1st leg, but a solitary Alfonso Pedraza strike in the third minute proved the difference between the clubs. Acuña picked up his second yellow card of the match in the seventy-sixth minute and will not be available for Sporting CP on Thursday.

We’re expecting another tight and tense leg between these two clubs on Thursday without many goals being scored as that was how Thursday’s game ended as well as the majority of Villarreal’s recent matches. The hosts have kept three clean sheets in their last three matches and four of their last six games have produced under 2.5 goals. Villarreal have only lost one of their last six matches as well as just one of their last seven home games. Not many teams have stopped Sporting CP from scoring of late, but Villarreal managed to do that at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon and we’re backing the Spaniard resolute defence to come out on top once again in the 2nd leg. Villarreal might not be performing as well as their guests domestically, but they do play in a much tougher, more demanding league, and that’s certainly played its part when the pair locked horns last week.

Villarreal head into the match as the form favourites having won two, drawn three, and lost just one of their last six matches, while Sporting who also have two wins, have picked up one draw, and suffered three defeats during that same period. Toko Ekambi top scores in Europe for the hosts this season with three goals, while Cabral, Fernandes, Diaby, and Montero are all on two goals each for Sporting CP. We’re confident that Villarreal will win to nil on Thursday, and have backed the final scoreline to end 2-0. The hosts have looked excellent in defence of late with three clean sheets from their last three attempts, but also added goals to their game as was evident in the 3-0 win over Sevilla on Sunday. Sporting have lost three of their last five matches and couldn’t find a way passed the Villarreal defence in the home leg of this tie which suggests they will find it even tougher to do so in Spain.