Villarreal - Napoli

Villareal welcome Napoli in the second leg of what seemed one of the most exciting ties in the UEFA Europa League. However, the first game at San Paolo in Naples was pretty dull and finished 0:0. I expect another close affair at El Madrigal on Thursday and in my point of view, the “Under 2.5 goals” option seems the best one.

Villareal slipped up on Sunday against struggling Malaga (1:1) at home thus spoiling their fantastic home record so they might be a little distracted. However, coach Garrido has been doing a great job managing the team and it is no wonder that the Yellow Submarine are currently sitting in 4th place in the Spanish La Liga. Guiseppe Rossi and Nilmar will lead the attack of the team and at first sight this might look pretty scary but we have to consider the fact that Villareal have only scored twice in the last five games of the team in all competitions. Moreover, all these five clashes (1-2-2) finished with no more than two goals so this further strengthens the arguments in favour of the “Under”.

Napoli, on the other hand, won 1:0 against Catania at the weekend thus keeping the gap behind AC Milan to only two points. Head coach Walter Mazzari can be very proud of what he has done at San Paolo and Napoli are enjoying probably their best season since the dream team featuring Maradona and Careca. Napoli have not conceded a single goal in their last four games in all tournaments and this might once again be the key for their success when they go out at El Madrigal on Thursday night. Edinson Cavani, who missed a penalty against Catania, will be the main threat for Villareal together with Lavezzi who remains doubtful for the game whereas the suspended defender Aronica misses the game for sure.

Similarly to Villareal, Napoli have been involved in a lot of low-scoring games and this goes for their last five clashes in all competitions so do not hesitate to back another “Under” between these two teams.