Villarreal goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. (Photo : Getty Images)
Contending squad Villarreal CF (15-4-8, 53 points) looks to extend their 14-game unbeaten run in the Spanish domestic top flight as they face lowly team UD Las Palmas (7-14-6, 27 points) at the Estadio El Madrigal on March 5th, Saturday in a 2015-2016 La Liga season match.
Villarreal settled for a goalless draw, though, with fellow contender Celta Vigo pushing them to the brink in their most recent match held at the Estadio Municipal de Balaídos on Wednesday, as reported by ESPN.
Yellow Submarine striker Cedric Bakambu came closest to scoring a winner during the first half of play, but he was blocked thrice by Os Célticos goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez.
A win would have momentarily elevated El Submarino Amarillo to third place over Real Madrid, but Los Blancos would immediately retake it anyway as Real also defeated their matchday 27 opponents Levante.
Head coach Marcelino's squad is now drifting at the fourth spot in the league table, four points behind the Bernabéu giants and nine points ahead of fifth-running Sevilla FC. They have remained undefeated since late November of last year when they dropped a 0-2 road game to Getafe.
Meanwhile, Las Palmas routed Getafe, ironically the last team to defeat Villarreal as mentioned above, 4-0, in a match held at their home field of Estadio Gran Canaria on Tuesday, as per SkySports.
Spanish winger Tana converted a double at the 49th and 83rd minutes to lead Quique Setien's squad over their lowly rivals. Striker Willian Jose and midfielder Jonathan Viera scored the first two goals for Los Amarillos, at the seventh and 28th respectively, en route to the team's four-goal haul.
The win was the second straight for Las Palmas after suffering from a three-game losing skid. However, they are precariously one point above the bottom-three relegation zone and so a win against the Yellow Submarine is crucial.
The predicted result is a 2-0 win for Villarreal. Marcelino and his crew will continue their undefeated streak while snapping Las Palmas' own winning run.
Villarreal starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Areola; Mario, Bailly, Ruiz, Rukavina; Suarez, Pina, Trigueros, Leiva; Bakambu, Baptistao
Las Palmas starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Varas; Santana, Aythami, Bigas, Garrido; Mesa; Momo, Tana, Viera, Mubarak; Jose
