Preview: Villarreal vs. Las Palmas - prediction, team news, lineups

Having failed to impress in the opening eight games, the hosts will aim to put their slow start to the season behind them and begin climbing the Spanish top flight on the back of a Europa League victory in midweek.

Match preview

After their fifth-placed finish in La Liga last time around, ending on 64 points from their 38 games, five more than in the previous campaign, Villarreal headed into the new La Liga season with the hopes of continued improvement and another top-four push, but they have certainly endured an underwhelming start, now finding themselves on just eight points from their opening eight league outings.

The Yellow Submarine headed into the first international break of the season with just three points on the board from their first four games, having picked up a solitary victory away at Mallorca alongside defeats to Real Betis, Barcelona and Cadiz, spelling the end of Quique Setien's stint as manager at the Estadio de la Ceramica as a result.

Over the break, the club hierarchy acted to appoint Pacheta as their new manager, tasking him with correcting their form, and his tenure did start with a win on their return to action in mid-September, beating Almeria 2-1 on home turf, only to fail to add another notch to their La Liga wins column in last three games, firstly following up a Europa League defeat to Panathinaikos with a 1-1 draw away at Rayo Vallecano before losing 2-1 at home to Girona and only taking a point from a goalless stalemate away at Getafe last weekend.

Having not yet shown distinct improvement under their new boss, the Yellow Submarine most recently hosted Rennes in their second Europa League group game, and they do now head into the weekend on the back of a victory, having come out on top in that meeting with Alexander Sorloth netting the only goal of the game in the first half, before Martin Terrier failed to equalise for the visitors from the penalty spot in injury time.

Now hoping to take confidence from that result, Villarreal will go in search of just a third league three-point haul of the season this weekend with the chance to quickly climb into the top half as they set out to join the leading pack with an improved run of form in the coming weeks.

In their way stand a Las Palmas side who have also accumulated eight points from their first eight games of the new season, after winning promotion back to Spain's top flight last season.

On their return to La Liga after five years away, Los Amarillos certainly endured a tough start as they failed to pick up a win from their first five games, while only collecting two points along the way from 1-1 and 0-0 draws with Mallorca and Real Sociedad prior to the international break.

Garcia Pimienta's side returned to action with a trip to Sevilla and suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat before putting their first win on the board at the sixth time of asking, beating Granada 1-0 thanks to Kirian Rodriguez's injury-time winner, only to then face an unenviable trip to title-chasing Real Madrid in late September, with that contest ending in a 2-0 defeat thanks to goals from Brahim Diaz and Joselu.

Los Amarillos sought to bounce back from that defeat on Monday when they hosted Celta Vigo, and they succeeded in doing so in dramatic fashion having trailed by a goal to nil throughout the second half, drawing level through Jonathan Viera in the 84th minute before Marc Cardona netted their winning goal seven minutes into injury time.

With a degree of confidence now on their side, having picked up their first two wins of the season in their last three league games, Las Palmas will aim to take a major scalp on Sunday and leapfrog the Yellow Submarine with a victory on their travels this weekend.

Villarreal La Liga form:

L

L

W

D

L

D

Villarreal form (all competitions):

W

L

D

L

D

W

Las Palmas La Liga form:

D

L

L

W

L

W

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Team News

Villarreal head into the weekend without attacker Alex Baena, who will serve a suspension after being sent off in their last La Liga game against Getafe, while fellow forward Gerard Moreno remains sidelined by injury alongside midfielder Francis Coquelin with defender Juan Foyth also set to be ruled out.

In Baena and Moreno's absence, Ben Brereton Diaz will come in from the start to lead the line alongside Alexander Sorloth, who has notched up four goals in eight La Liga appearances so far this term, while Yeremy Pino and Jose Luis Morales will look to cause problems from the wings.

Elsewhere, key men Etienne Capoue and Dani Parejo will continue to partner up in the engine room, while Matteo Gabbia should again join veteran Raul Albiol in the middle of their back four.

Las Palmas are dealing with several injuries of their own, as Sandro Ramirez, Fabio Gonzalez, Benito Ramirez and Omenuke Mfulu all remain confined to the treatment room heading into the weekend.

They should steer clear of making many changes after the win over Celta Vigo last time out, although Jonathan Viera and Marc Cardona both have claims to come in from the start after scoring off the bench in that triumph.

Cardona will challenge Sory Kaba to lead the line, while Viera could join Kirian Rodriguez and Enzo Loiodice in midfield, with Mika Marmol and Alex Suarez bound to again partner up at the heart of the back four.

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Jorgensen; Femenia, Gabbia, Albiol, Moreno; Pino, Parejo, Capoue, Morales; Brereton Diaz, Sorloth

Las Palmas possible starting lineup:

Valles; Araujo, Suarez, Marmol, S Cardona; Munir, Rodriguez, Loiodice, Pejino; Viera; M Cardona

We say: Villarreal 2-1 Las Palmas

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