Preview: Villarreal vs. Alaves - prediction, team news, lineups

Villarreal welcome Alaves to Estadio de la Ceramica on Wednesday evening looking to bounce back from their 4-0 defeat at Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Alaves head into the contest having only recorded one point from their opening three matches in La Liga this season.

Match preview

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While Unai Emery will be provided with plenty of time to get things right at Villarreal, the former Arsenal boss knows that his side have plenty of improvements to make in order to replicate last season's fifth-placed finish.

A 1-1 draw at home to newly-promoted Huesca was followed by a comeback victory over Eibar, results which would have provided supporters with little confidence ahead of the trip to Camp Nou on Sunday evening.

Despite Barcelona competing in their first game of the campaign, they blew away El Submarino Amarillo, netting all four goals before the break.

With a trip to Atletico Madrid to come at the weekend, Emery is now under pressure to get his side back on track in what will be regarded as a must-win fixture.

Gerard Moreno has had a hand in all three of Villarreal's goal this season, contributing two strikes and one assist.

Alaves head into this encounter having conceded just three goals in as many matches, but that has not been enough to keep them outside of the relegation zone.

Narrow defeats against Real Betis and Granada were followed by a goalless draw against Getafe on Saturday afternoon.

Alaves have now recorded just two wins and two draws in the 14 matches since the return to action in June, leaving Pablo Machin with a major job on his hands having been brought in as a replacement for Juan Muniz last month.

Lucas Perez is currently on a 11-game streak without a goal, almost a year to the day since he began a run of netting in seven matches in succession.

Villarreal La Liga form: DWL

Alaves La Liga form: LLD

Team News

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Emery could choose to hand a first Villarreal start to Takefusa Kubo, who is on loan from Real Madrid.

Vicente Iborra is likely to get the nod over Francis Coquelin in the centre of midfield.

As for Alaves, Perez may drop out of the team to allow for Deyverson to be given another opportunity in attack.

Despite his recent return from injury, midfielder Manu Garcia is unlikely to be considered for a starting role until next month.

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Asenjo; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Estupinan; Kubo, Iborra, Parejo, Gomez; Alcacer, Moreno

Alaves possible starting lineup:

Pacheco; Navarro, Lejeune, Laguarida, Duarte; Mendez, Pons, Battaglia, Rioja; Deyverson, Joselu

We say: Villarreal 2-1 Alaves

With Villarreal's confidence potentially being knocked by the setback at Camp Nou, this game could be closer than many are predicting. Nevertheless, the home side's extra quality should shine through against opponents who would be delighted if they were able to earn a share of the spoils.

Top betting tip

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