Villarreal v Hajduk Split Betting Tips [18 August 2022]
Football - Conference League
18 August 2022 14:45
The match
A spot in the Europa Conference League group stage is up for grabs when Croatian side Hajduk Split travels to Spain to take on Valencia at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Villarreal enjoyed a winning start to the new La Liga campaign, recording a convincing 3-0 away victory over Real Valladolid. The win sees the Yellow Submarine carry over their terrific preseason form into the regular season, with a current run of seven wins and two draws from the past nine matches. For the visiting Hajduk, they’ll be hoping to bounce back after dropping two consecutive matches. The Whites are coming off a heavy 4-1 away defeat to rivals Dinamo Zagreb which was preceded by a 1-0 away defeat to Vitoria SC. The defeats snapped Hajduk’s three match winning run in competitive fixtures to start the season.
We’re likely to see some rotation from Unai Emery here, with an important away match against Atletico Madrid coming up only three days after. However, Villarreal certainly still have enough about them to record a comfortable victory here. This will be Villarreal’s first home match of the season and only the second when including the preseason. Emery’s side played a frantic preseason schedule which included seven matches away from home. While they performed very well as the away team during this stretch, the players will undoubtedly be fired up to kick off the 2022/23 season at the Estadio de la Cerámica in front of the home fans. The Croatians could struggle here if Villarreal are able to replicate their strong home form from last season which saw the Yellow Submarine finish with a 10-6-3 home record with a goal differential of +22.
Key Statistics
- Villarreal are unbeaten in their last 10 matches including the preseason.
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in four of Villarreal’s last five matches.
- Vllarreal have scored first in seven of the last seven matches and have been leading at half time in six of the last seven.
- Hajduk Split has failed to keep a clean sheet in three consecutive matches.
The bet of our experts
We’re going to back Villarreal on the -1.5 Asian Handicap as our bet for this match. This means that the hosts must win by at least two goals for our bet to be a winner. Emery’s side has shown in preseason that they are capable of starting matches strongly and have been in a habit of scoring in the first half. While a half-time / full-time bet is certainly a viable option as well, Villarreal’s performance in their most recent match is why we are going with the -1.5 spread instead. Three goals in the second half sealed a three goal win for them on the day and if Villarreal find themselves in a similar situation here, the subs coming on good make all the difference.
