Sports Mole previews Saturday’s La Liga clash between Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Rayo Vallecano will be aiming to make it four La Liga wins in a row when they continue their campaign with a clash against high-flying Villarreal on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors are currently seventh in the La Liga table, picking up 14 points from their first 10 matches, while the Yellow Submarine are third, seven points behind the leaders Real Madrid.
Match preview
Villarreal will enter this match off the back of a 6-0 victory over Ciudad de Lucena in the Copa del Rey, with the Yellow Submarine comfortably progressing to the next round of the competition, while they were 2-0 winners over Valencia in Spain’s top flight last weekend.
Marcelino‘s side have a record of six wins, two draws and two defeats from their 10 league matches this season, with 20 points leaving them in third, two points behind second-placed Barcelona and seven from the leaders Real Madrid.
Villarreal are also playing in the league phase of this season’s Champions League, picking up just one point from their three matches, losing against Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
The Yellow Submarine will be expecting to challenge for a top-four spot in La Liga this season, and they will be eyeing a seventh league win on Saturday before facing Pafos in the Champions League next week.
Villarreal have won 17 of their previous 33 matches against Rayo in all competitions, including a 1-0 success when the two teams last locked horns in Madrid back in February.
Rayo managed to pick up a point in a 1-1 draw with Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica last season, though, and their recent form will allow the capital side to enter this match full of confidence.
Los Franjirrojos have been victorious in each of their last three league matches against Real Sociedad, Levante and Alaves, while they beat CD Yuncos 6-1 in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night.
Rayo made a slow start to the 2025-26 La Liga campaign, but their recent run of form has allowed them to move up into seventh spot in the table, boasting 14 points from their first 10 matches.
Inigo Perez‘s side are also playing European football this season, competing in the league phase of the Conference League, picking up four points from their first two matches.
Rayo finished eighth in La Liga last term to qualify for Europe, and the capital outfit will be expecting to challenge for a similar position during the 2025-26 campaign.
Villarreal La Liga form:
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Villarreal form (all competitions):
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Rayo Vallecano La Liga form:
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Rayo Vallecano form (all competitions):
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Team News
Villarreal will once again be missing three players through injury this weekend, with Logan Costa, Willy Kambwala and Pau Cabanes unavailable for selection.
Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi scored a treble in the Copa del Rey last time out, but the 25-year-old is expected to drop back down to the bench for the league fixture with Rayo.
Gerard Moreno was on the scoresheet against Valencia in La Liga last time out, and he is again expected to be in the starting side here, with Ayoze Perez likely to be named on the bench.
As for Rayo, Abdul Mumin remains unavailable for selection through injury, while Luiz Felipe is a major doubt.
Alvaro Garcia has been a standout player for the capital outfit this season, scoring seven times in 14 appearances, and the 33-year-old will again feature in the final third of the field.
There should also be a spot at centre-forward for Alemao, but Fran Perez could drop back down to the bench despite scoring three times in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Junior; Mourino, Veiga, Foyth, Pedraza; Pepe, Partey, Comesana, Moleiro; G Moreno, Mikautadze
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mendy, Chavarria; Lopez, Ciss; De Frutos, Diaz, Garcia; Alemao
We say: Villarreal 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
This is a really tricky match to call, as Villarreal will have home advantage, but Rayo have been in excellent form of late, and we are expecting the capital outfit to be good enough for a point on Saturday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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