Villarreal VS Elche

Fresh off a convincing 3-1 Champions League victory over Napoli, Villarreal are carrying strong momentum at the moment. However, their domestic league form has been inconsistent lately, with just 1 win and 2 losses across their recent home outings. Their key striker Mikautadze is in top goalscoring form, but the team faces obvious selection issues: Nicolas Pepe is out with an eye injury, while Buchanan has suffered a muscle contusion, which will disrupt their regular rotation arrangements. Elche, despite their low standing in the league table, have posted far more steady results on the road than at home, picking up 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss in four away fixtures. They build their game around solid defensive counter-attacks, and head into this clash fresh from a hard-fought 0-0 draw that held Celta Vigo to a stalemate in their last league match.