Thursday 22nd February 2018 Kick off 1800hrs Villareal v Lyon Football – Europe – Europa League Villareal and Lyon are two clubs with plenty of history in this competition but only one can progress to the next round and continue what has been a pretty impressive participation for the two at various stages. Lyon have the undoubted advantage having won the first leg 3-1 at home a week ago, but how important will that away goal be in the context of the tie? You get the feeling that whoever does progress will have a good chance of going very deep, potentially even winning it.
Villareal are extremely consistent at finishing in the European places in La Liga and more often than not get past the group stage of this competition. Where they sometimes have let themselves down is once they get into the knockout stage and failing to make the most of their opportunity of clinching European glory. One of the reasons for that is they can favour their domestic commitments and make numerous changes to the team for Europa League games. They reached the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarter finals five years later, but it’s arguably not the return that such talented teams have been capable of. Following last week’s defeat to Lyon it could well be a case of the same old story for the Spaniards unless they can pull off an impressive recovery.
Lyon reached the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, narrowly missing out on making the final against Manchester United. They have returned with an aim of going one better this time around and although the finished second behind Atalanta in the group stage, the Ligue 1 outfit have given themselves a great chance of reaching the last 16 by dominating the first leg last Thursday. Nabil Fekir has been a standout for Lyon all season both in Europe and domestically, and he was at the centre of all things positive last week, notching another goal in the process. He is the start of what is an improving an emerging squad full of young players but there are familiar names as well, not least Memphis Depay who has been much more reliable this season compared to last. The Dutch winger has chipped in with a number of crucial goals and was also on the scoresheet in the first leg against Villareal, coming off the bench to score his side’s third – and that may be the all important goal come full time on Thursday.
Villareal v Lyon Betting Tip
Villareal have not been great at home in the Europa League this season, taking only four points from their three matches. It’s somewhat in contrast to their home form in La Liga considering the Yellow submarine have picked up six wins and two draws from 11 games. They will have to be at their best if they are to turn things around on this occasion though, especially as Lyon have demonstrated just how dangerous they are on the road in terms of scoring. The 1-0 defeat to Atalanta last time out was the first time they have failed to score away from home in this competition in 11 games. I cannot see how Villareal prevent their visitors from extending that good run and they should also have enough to score at least once, so take both teams to score.
Both teams to score 8/13 @ Betfair
