Real Betis – Villarreal

The Sevilla team will be closer to victory over the opponent on home turf.

Betis, in the current season, is showing noticeable progress. Even though last year the Seville club reached the Conference League final and finished sixth in La Liga, the team is systematically moving forward. This thesis was confirmed by the extension of Manuel Pellegrini's contract. The 72-year-old Chilean specialist has led Betis longer than any other club in his long career and has elevated it to a higher level. The team values Pellegrini's experience, since the Chilean has coached Real Madrid and Manchester City, with which he became English champions. By the way, the second-longest managerial tenure in Pellegrini's résumé is none other than Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine has been led by Marcelino for the third year in a row. The work of the 60-year-old Spanish coach is generally satisfactory for the club, but the team's results in La Liga are the last thread of the current Villarreal's success. Unfortunately, in other tournaments the guests did not cope with the tasks. Bookmakers have not determined favorites for the upcoming match, offering almost equal odds for the opponents. Betis continues to fight on three football fronts, showing a decent level on each of them. Since mid-September the Seville side has suffered only two defeats. Both came in La Liga, but the opponents were such that losses to them aren't criticized. At the end of October Betis lost to Atletico Madrid, and in early December they failed to perform well against a Barcelona that had started to come into form. Thus, Betis is a Copa del Rey quarter-finalist, is in the Top 8 of the Europa League knockout stage, and also sits in sixth place in La Liga. Villarreal can boast such stability only in La Liga. In the Champions League the Yellow Submarine shows terrible results; from the Copa del Rey it was eliminated at the previous stage. However in La Liga the team handles mid-table and lower-table sides consistently, which leads to a steady inflow of points. However Betis is a significantly more serious opponent than Alavés or Elche, hence a Betis victory in this match is unlikely.