Villarreal v Sporting Gijón Betting Tips: Joy for both teams expected at El Madrigal

After their surprise win at the intimidating Vicente Calderón on Tuesday evening, Villarreal will be looking to kick-on against a struggling Gijón on Friday night, although this might not be as easy as many expect.

Villarreal may well have got the better of Atlético on Tuesday, but that victory wasn’t exactly convincing. In addition, the visitors are fighting for their La Liga lives at present and, although they’re not exactly picking up regular wins, they come here unbeaten in two and are sure to have a real go.

The hosts are long odds-on in the betting but, although they really ought to be coming out on top, haven’t been all that consistent in recent weeks and could make hard work of it. With this in mind, getting behind the hosts isn’t advisable, especially at the prices. Instead, the bet to opt for it ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’.

Earlier on in the season, it would’ve probably been a bit foolish to expect the hosts to concede on their own patch; they were defending well and generally keeping teams at bay. However, lately, such solidity has eluded them and far too often have they made it hard for themselves against the lesser teams over the past few weeks. Scoring goals isn’t exactly a problem with Fran Escribá’s men finding the net in each of their last six matches, although they’ve looked far from secure at the other end and approach this match having kept just two clean sheets in their last seven, as well as just one in their last six at home.

There’s also been no shortage of overall goals at El Madrigal in recent weeks with ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ landing in four the last five matches that Villarreal have played in front of a home crowd. On top of this, there’s also been at least three goals in three of the last five Gijón away matches, including the last two.

It’s fair to say that this season has gone pretty poorly for Gijón, although, with four games left to play, they’re still fighting and are just about still in with a chance of beating the drop. You certainly couldn’t say that Rubi’s men aren’t having a real go; they created plenty against Espanyol during the week and were probably unlucky not to walk away with all three points, while they fought back well to score twice late on last Saturday away at Osasuna. For all they are shaky at the back – kept just one clean sheet in their last 12 – the visitors come here having scored at least once in each of their last four and will certainly try to continue this run. After all, if they don’t score goals, they’ve got no hope of securing the wins they so desperately need.

With the hosts still fighting for something at the right end of the table, they should fancy themselves against a defensively inept opponent, but they’ve really not been at their best of late and so a visiting team who will definitely look to get forward could easily profit. As Gijón are expected to do more than just sit back – something they simply cannot afford to do – this could turn into a bit of an end-to-end affair and thus goals all round are expected.

More tips can be found here.