Villarreal-Mallorca

By: Jeremy | September 12th, 2009

At various points in a season, teams play games that can bring them some attention and motivate them to for future performances if the results go their way. For Mallorca, this is one of those weeks. Although it is only the second week of the season, a game against one of Spains top teams can be a springboard to a good start of the season, especially after taking care of business against newly promoted Xerez.

Villarreal will be hoping to do this week what we did last week, which is get the must three points at home against an inferior opponent. After their draw on the road to Osasuna, a team that should be at the bottom of the standings, Villarreal, despite the road point, headed home and to the international break a little disappointed. If you are going to qualify for the Champions League you need three points any time you play Osasuna. This is especially true when you play Mallorca at home so anything less then three points will be disappointing for them.

Villarreal has plenty of talent, some known and some coming in to their own. One of those players is Santi Cazorla an up and coming Spanish midfielder. Giuseppi Rossi and Nilmar form a nice attack, but they will be without defender Marcos Senna. Of course you cant mention Villarreal without mentioning Mallorca legend Ariel Ibagaza who unfortunately now plays for the yellow.

Mallorca will have a full squad this week including the return of Josemi. With Aduriz and Tuni showing some goal scoring touch last week, combined with the return of Varela, our attack could be stronger then expected and I would expect us to push the pace even on the road in hopes that we can surprise them. Points here are not expected and not vital, but a win will get us some early La Liga attention and a draw could go a long way toward giving the team some confidence for early success. I still think it will be tough to get points here.

Prediction:

Villarreal 3-1 Mallorca

Prediction record to date: 1-0