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The Copa del Rey returns this week and will see Sporting Gijon host Villarreal at the El Molinon on Thursday evening in the last 32 of the cup competition.
Sporting Gijon picked up a comfortable 1-0 win over Union Ceares in their Copa del Rey game this season. They then beat Alcorcon 2-1 in the second round, with Uros Đurđević scoring an extra-time winner after the game ended 1-1 in normal time.
Sporting Gijon were knocked out by Real Betis at this stage of the competition last season and will be hoping for better luck this time around.
Villarreal have had a stellar Copa del Rey run so far this season. They beat Victoria CF 8-0 in their first game before going on to beat third-tier Atletico Sanluqueno 7-1 in the second round. They are currently the highest scoring team in the cup competition so far.
Villarreal have exited the cup competition in the quarterfinals in back-to-back seasons now and will be looking to take the next step this campaign.
Sporting Gijon vs Villarreal Head-to-Head
There have been 18 meetings between Sporting Gijon and Villarreal. The hosts have won just three of those games while the visitors have won 13 times. There have been two draws between the two teams.
The two sides last faced off in a La Liga game back in 2017. Villarreal won the game 3-1.
Sporting Gijon Form Guide (All Competitions): D-W-W-D-L
Villarreal Form Guide (All Competitions): W-W-W-W-W
Sporting Gijon vs Villarreal Team News
Sporting Gijon
Pablo Perez, Jean-Sylvain Babin and Victor Campuzano all remain injured and will miss the game at the weekend.
Injured: Pablo Perez, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Victor Campuzano
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Villarreal
Ruben Pena has been ruled out of Saturday's game with an injury. Arnaut Danjuma, Francis Coquelin and Dani Parejo all have fitness concerns and may not be available to play.
Serge Aurier, Samuel Chukwueze and Aissa Mandi are all away on international assignments and will not be with the squad.
Injured: Ruben Pena
Doubtful: Francis Coquelin, Dani Parejo, Arnaut Danjuma
Unavailable: Serge Aurier, Samuel Chukwueze, Aissa Mandi
Suspended: None
Sporting Gijon vs Villarreal Predicted XI
Sporting Gijon Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Diego Mariño; Guille Rosas, Borja Lopez, José Gragera, Vasyl Kravets; Pedro Díaz, Ignacio Mendez; Aitor García, Francisco Villalba, Gaspar Campos; Uroš Đurđević
Villarreal Predicted XI (4-4-2): Geronimo Rulli; Pervis Estupinan, Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Juan Foyth; Yeremi Pino, Manu Trigueros, Vicente Iborra, Moi Gomez; Boulaye Dia, Gerard Moreno
Sporting Gijon vs Villarreal Prediction
Sporting Gijon are unbeaten in their last four games across all competitions and have lost just one of their last seven. The game against an in-form Villarreal will, however, be a real test for the hosts.
Villarreal are in very good form at the moment with six wins from their last six games and seven from their last eight across all competitions. They have been in free-scoring form as well, scoring 25 goals in their last six games. The visitors should win on Saturday.
Prediction: Sporting Gijon 1-3 Villarreal
