Villarreal will go into their match against Espanyol at La Cerámica with Ilias Akhomach and Nathan Saliba unavailable, while the rest of the squad is fit for tomorrow. Iñigo Pérez delivered that update on the eve of the game, narrowing the team picture to two absences and one clear priority: keep the same base that has been working.
That is why Villarreal Vs Espanyol is being searched now. The home side have just lifted the mood with victories at Mestalla and in Manacor, and Pérez said those results have changed the atmosphere around the group. The timing matters because the next step is immediate: Villarreal have no room to wait for clarity, and their selection decision is now mostly about how to build on what has already started to click.
Pérez said Villarreal must focus on their own plan, preserve what has gone well and correct what has not. He pointed to the team’s work without the ball as one of its strengths, saying Villarreal are either the best or the second-best side for ball recoveries in the opposition half. That pressure, he suggested, has been one of the reasons the mood has improved after the recent wins.
Even so, the match is not being framed as straightforward. Pérez warned that Espanyol’s uncertainty under Sergio García could make the contest difficult, and he wants Villarreal to be calmer in the final third. He used the Elche match as the warning sign, saying early wastefulness and later haste against a solid defence can undo good work if the finishing is rushed.
Espanyol arrive in crisis and after a recent cup exit, while limited preparation time may restrict how much Sergio García can change. That leaves Villarreal facing a test of control as much as form: they have the home ground, the better mood and nearly the full squad, but they also know that a side living through upheaval can still turn a match into a scrap. For Villarreal, the next answer has to come on the pitch, not in the team news.
