Football Results

Spartak was defeated in the first round with 2-0 away by Rapid from Vienna, while Villarreal played 2-2 at home against the Scottish Rangers. We should also add that both teams have suffered home defeats last weekend, while they in 2004 met in Intertoto Cup and then Villarreal had more success.

Spartak Moscow

In the meantime, both teams have progressed a lot, so Spartak Moscow has come to the title of the Russian championship two seasons ago, but they were not very good in the Champions League last year, while they were this season eliminated in the third round of that completion from Greek PAOK. However, they also found themselves in the group stage of Europa League, where they also started off badly, and they were two weeks ago defeated by Rapid with 2-0 as guests.

In the meantime, they lost their form in the domestic championship, where they recorded two defeats and two draws, so they are now fifth in the table and have seven points less than the leading Zenit. However, they were also successful in the Russian Cup against Chernomorets, but they still have a lot of problems with absences, given that they cannot count on the injured goalkeeper Selikhov, defenders Gigot, Kutepov and Petkovic and striker Rocha, while defender Eshchenko and midfielders Glushakov and Eremenko are suspended.

Probable lineups Spartak Moscow: Maksimenko – Rasskazov, Bocchetti, Djikia, Kombarov – Fernando, Zobnin – Hanni, Popov, Melgarejo – Luiz Adriano

Villarreal

When it comes to the team of Villarreal, we have already said in the introduction that they have like Spartak suffered a home defeat in the championship last weekend, but the “Yellow Submarine” was valid for the absolute favourite in that match with Valladolid. Namely, before that they had a series of two wins and one draw, which led them to the upper part of the table, but then Valladolid defeated them with 1-0, so they now occupy only the 12th place and have only eight points.

In addition, at the start of Europa League, they had the lead twice in the home match with Scotland Rangers, but eventually scored only one point, as the score was 2-2. That is why Villarreal is now aware that they should not lose in Moscow from Spartak, so we expect a more cautious approach from the guests. When it comes to their composition, coach Callejo has already announced a lot of changes compared to the match with Valladolid, while Soriano, Fuego and Caseres are still injured.

Probable lineups Villarreal: Fernandez – Layun, Funes Mori, Ruiz, Pedraza – Iturra, Cazorla – Raba, Fornals, Sansone – Toko Ekambi

Verdict:

Given that the new blunder in Europa League would distance them even further from the placement in the knockout stage, we certainly expect Spartak and Villarreal to present themselves in a more cautious edition in this duel, especially since they have a lot of problems in attack lately.

Pick: under 2.5 goals 1.87 - 87/100 @1XBet