Match Report
Before the match
Villarreal came into the game with three wins, one draw and one defeat from their last five outings, scoring 13 goals and conceding six. A 5-0 win away to Manacor (27 October) was their most recent result.
Manacor hosted Villarreal (Copa del Rey) on 27 October. For Villarreal, the score was 5-0: five goals scored, zero allowed. 2-1 was Villarreal's result against Valencia on 24 October (La Liga), playing away from home; Villarreal won, with two scored to one conceded. The 20 October fixture (Champions League) paired Villarreal with Liverpool. Villarreal lost 3-4 away from home, netting three goals while conceding four. Playing at home against Elche (La Liga), Villarreal finished 0-0 on 17 October. Their score comprised zero goals, against zero from the opposition. 13 October: Villarreal won 3-1 against Napoli at home in Champions League, scoring three goals and allowing one.
Villarreal stood 10th in the results-based La Liga table before kickoff, with 12 points from ten matches.
Espanyol: one draw and four defeats over five games; six goals scored, 11 conceded, without a win. Sestao River were their latest opponents, away on 27 October: a 4-3 defeat.
Espanyol visited Sestao River on 27 October (Copa del Rey) and lost 3-4; their goals totalled three, compared with four conceded. Santander hosted Espanyol (La Liga) on 24 October. For Espanyol, the score was 1-2: one goal scored, two allowed. 0-1 was Espanyol's result against Atleti on 17 October (La Liga), playing at home; Espanyol lost, with zero scored to one conceded. The 9 October fixture (La Liga) paired Espanyol with Málaga. Espanyol drew 1-1 away from home, netting one goal while conceding one. Playing at home against Elche (La Liga), Espanyol finished 1-3 on 18 September. Their score comprised one goal, against three from the opposition.
eight points in ten matches put Espanyol 18th in the pre-match results-based La Liga standings.
Earlier results between these sides included a 4-1 home win for Villarreal on 9 February and a 2-0 away win for Villarreal on 8 November 2025.
After the match
Espanyol edged past Villarreal 1-0 on 30 October 2026. Leandro Cabrera opened the scoring 60 minutes into the game for Espanyol, set up by Bryan Zaragoza, to make it 1-0. Rafael Bauzà (21'), Roger Hinojo (41'), Sergi Cardona (53'), Santi Comesaña (56'), Bryan Zaragoza (75') and Carlos Macià (90') were booked. Our current Elo ratings make Villarreal clearly the stronger side, by 136 rating points over Espanyol, even though it was Espanyol who won this one. On current ratings our Elo-Poisson model gives Espanyol only a 13.5% chance in this pairing, the least likely of the three outcomes. The card tally for Villarreal was three yellow cards. Villarreal made five changes. Espanyol picked up three yellow cards. The substitution total for Espanyol was four. Espanyol kept their opponents scoreless.