Villarreal vs Rennes Prediction & Betting Tips - Europa League

Prediction published on 03/10/2023, 17:45  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 05/10/2023 at 07:00 in Europa League Prediction

Villareal will be hoping to break their Europa League duck when they play host to Rennes on Thursday evening. The hosts are currently third in the group and yet to get off the mark, while the visitors lead the standings with three points. Fair to say, Villareal have not gotten going as yet this season. They played out a stalemate away to Getafe over the weekend, which extended their current winless run to four consecutive matches. That run began with a 2-0 loss to Panathinaikos in this competition a couple of weeks ago. Since then, the Yellow Submarine have drawn two and lost 2-1 to Girona. Having failed to win any of their last three league games, the hosts have fallen to 13th place in La Liga. They have only registered eight points this term and are only three points clear of the drop zone. At home, Villareal have lost three of their four matches this season and conceded two or more goals in each of those matches. Despite this, the bookmakers make them the favorites in this one. 

In contrast, Rennes have enjoyed a steady start to their 2023-24 campaign. They came into this match fresh off a 3-1 win over Nantes last weekend. That result extended their unbeaten record this season to eight matches in all competitions. In fact, the last time the Ligue 1 outfit lost a competitive match was at the start of May this year. The Red and Blacks kicked off the Europa League with a 3-0 win over Maccabi Haifa, which took them to pole position in the group. They are also just three points behind Monaco, who currently lead Ligue 1 in the early stages of the season. While Rennes have been solid this season, their away record is less impressive. In three matches on the road this them, the visitors have drawn all of them, including two 0-0 results in their last two matches. Still,