Fifth will welcome fourth in Spain's top flight on Sunday evening, with Athletic Bilbao heading to Villarreal.
Athletic have taken 53 points from their 29 league matches this season to occupy fourth in the La Liga table, six points ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal, with both sides battling to secure European football for the 2025-26 campaign.
Match preview
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Villarreal have a record of 13 wins, eight draws and seven defeats from their 28 La Liga matches this season, with a total of 47 points leaving them in fifth spot in the table, and they have been an entertaining watch this term.
Indeed, the Yellow Submarine have found the back of the net on 51 occasions in their 28 league fixtures, which is the third-best attacking record in the division behind Real Madrid and Barcelona, but they have conceded 39 times, which is high considering their spot in the division.
Marcelino's side will enter this match off the back of a 2-1 victory over Getafe, with that result proving to be particularly important, as back-to-back defeats to Alaves and Real Madrid had arrived at the start of the month.
Villarreal have actually been the second-best away team in La Liga this season, but they have dropped points in eight of their 13 matches in front of their own fans, while Athletic have 23 points from their 14 games on their travels.
The Yellow Submarine are winless in their last three matches with Athletic, including a 2-0 defeat in the reverse game earlier this season, while it was 3-2 to the Lions when the pair locked horns in the corresponding fixture in 2023-24.
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Athletic, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a goalless draw with Osasuna, with that result moving Ernesto Valverde's side onto 53 points from 29 matches, which has left them in fourth spot, six points above fifth-placed Villarreal, having played a game more.
The Basque team are four points behind third-placed Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, so third is certainly achievable this term, but fourth is the target, which would represent an excellent campaign.
Athletic have not claimed a top-four finish since the 2013-14 campaign, and they were 16th as recent as 2017-18, so returning to the Champions League spots would be a huge positive for the team.
Valverde's side have only won one of their last four league matches, which came away to Sevilla before the March international break, while they were beaten 1-0 by Atletico Madrid at the start of the month.
Athletic are also chasing success in the Europa League this season, with the first leg of their quarter-final taking place against Rangers in Scotland next week, before the return fixture at San Mames on April 17.
Team News
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Villarreal will again be without the services of Ilias Akhomach due to a long-term knee injury, while Ramon Terrats, Pape Gueye and Raul Albiol are all doubts, but Thierno Barry should shake off an issue to start.
Logan Costa replaced Willy Kambwala at the interval of the clash with Getafe last time out, and that is now a change which could happen from the start against Athletic.
Ayoze Perez has been in excellent form for Villarreal this season, finding the back of the net on 12 occasions in Spain's top flight, and the Spaniard will feature through the middle this weekend.
As for Athletic, Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta and Dani Vivian are doubts due to muscular problems, but the away side are otherwise in strong shape for their trip to Villarreal.
Head coach Valverde is unlikely to make many changes from the side that took to the field against Osasuna, but there could be a change at centre-forward, with Gorka Guruzeta potentially replacing Maroan Sannadi.
There remains widespread speculation surrounding the future of Nico Williams, and the Spain international is expected to be on the move this summer, but he will again feature in the starting side on Sunday night.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Luiz Junior; Navarro, Foyth, L Costa, S Cardona; Pino, Comesana, Parejo, Baena; Perez, Barry
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, U Nunez, Yeray, Yuri; Prados, Jauregizar; I Williams, Berenguer, N Williams; Guruzeta
We say: Villarreal 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Villarreal are good value in terms of entertainment, and we are finding it difficult to back them to keep out a talented Athletic attack on Sunday, but they have some serious firepower themselves. We are expecting an open and free-flowing match here, and the points could ultimately be shared in a 2-2 draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
