Having made it into this competition as a result of failing to qualify for the Champions League via the play-offs, these two teams experienced contrasting starts to life in Group L a fortnight ago.
After conceding in the second minute of the match, Villarreal fought back to claim a 2-1 victory over Swiss side Zurich, while Steaua slumped to a 2-0 away defeat at the hands of Turkish outfit Osmanlıspor.
As a side with fairly lofty ambitions, Villarreal must look at the Europa League as a potential passage through to Champions League football next season. With this in mind, although plenty of fans belittle UEFA’s secondary trophy, the Yellow Submarine are likely to take it very seriously indeed. Realistically, with the talent in their squad, they should be going very deep into this competition.
From a betting point of view here, siding with the visitors is the way to go. At 11/10, backing Villarreal to emerge victorious certainly wouldn’t be the worst bet, but, at the larger price of 7/5, ‘Villarreal to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ is the bet to be on.
The visitors played a strong line-up first time out in this competition and, as they look to cement their position at the top of the group sooner rather than later, they are fancied to do the same here. On top of this, the away team have been in good scoring form of late. In their last five matches, Villarreal have scored no fewer than ten goals, scoring two or more in four of those. The only time they failed to net twice in these five matches was during a 1-1 draw away at the Bernabéu, which was actually a very impressive result.
In addition to the visitors’ scoring form, the hosts don’t exactly boast the finest defensive record of late. Steaua have conceded two or more goals in three of their last five matches and in each of their last two. They also conceded twice on match-day one of this competition, showcasing some very poor defending in doing so. Fans of the Champions League will also remember that they conceded five at home against Manchester City in the play-off round. While Villarreal may not quite be on City’s level, they do have plenty of creativity and attacking prowess of their own and, realistically, should be capable of inflicting some serious damage to the Bucharest back-line.
The visiting side also bring with them two strikers who’ve hit the ground running this season. Alexandre Pato and Nicola Sansone have scored seven goals between them so far and will surely be relishing the chance of getting at Steaua Bucharest’s shaky looking defence.
See more Europa League tips here.