Rayo Vallecano
- Rayo Vallecano have scored 1.22 and conceded only 0.83 goals per home game in LaLiga 2025/2026.
- Rayo are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions (Won 3, Drawn 2), while Villarreal’s recent record stands at W2, Drawn 2, Lost 1.
- Íñigo Pérez has made a bold impact since taking charge at Vallecas in February 2024 and his side play an intense style that is based around high-pressing, vertical combinations and aggressive transitions from defence to attack.
- The Basque coach employs a narrow 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system, but it is the intensity of his team’s pressing game that creates as much danger as the players he has at his disposal.
Villarreal CF
- Villarreal CF are 3rd with 69 points from 35 games, Rayo Vallecano are 10th with 43 from the same number of fixtures.
- Marcelino García has created a compact and disciplined side since taking over at Villarreal CF in November 2023, one that has won them a Champions League spot, and they currently sit third in the LaLiga 2025/2026 table.
- His team are set up in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 system, with a strong emphasis on maintaining their structure and reacting to the opposition’s moves rather than making the game flow through their own passing.
Head-to-Head
Pérez’s team failed to win their most recent two home games against Villarreal CF, so the visitors have a bit of a mental edge for this clash.
Key Players
- Alexandre Zurawski has scored four of Rayo’s last eight goals in their previous five games, so he is in particularly prolific form at the moment, while Jorge de Frutos is a reliable goalscorer with ten goals in 33 league matches.
- Nicolas Pepe has scored three goals in their last five matches.
Betting Insights
The odds on an away victory at 2.91 make the most appeal here, as long as you can get them, while Over 2.5 goals at 1.81 and BTTS - Yes at 1.57 also appeal in this game with both teams in goal-scoring form.
Prediction
- Villarreal have won seven, drawn five and lost six of their 18 away games in LaLiga, conceding 25 goals and they are rightful favorites for this Sunday’s clash, although their head-to-head record and league position in the table are better than Rayo’s.
- Rayo have won six and drawn 10 of their 18 home LaLiga matches, losing only twice, so it is likely to be a tight game.
