Zenit and Villarreal face , in a match for this stage of the UEFA Europa League (8th Finals). There is no recent record of official head‑to‑heads between these two teams. The last head‑to‑head was played on 21‑02‑2008 and ended with the final score: Villarreal (2‑1) Zenit. In this match the home advantage may play an important role, as both teams present significant differences between home and away performances.
The home team comes to this stage of the UEFA Europa League (8th Finals) after having eliminated Fenerbahçe with a home win by (3‑1) and a away loss by (1‑0) in the previous round. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 6 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses in away matches, with 21 goals scored and 18 conceded; against 10 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses at their stadium, with 24 goals scored and 16 conceded. They come to this match after a away win against Ural by (0‑1). Zenit registers 6 wins in the last 6 home matches for the UEFA Europa League.
In this competition, they have a sequence of 6 wins in the last home matches. Defensive consistency hasn’t been their best feature, as they have conceded goals in 8 of the last 10 matches, but their offense has scored consistently, as they have scored goals in 8 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In 12 matches for this competition, they have conceded the first goal 6 times, but have turned the score around in 2.
Zenit St. Petersburg comes to this game with a victory, by 0-1, in the displacement to the stadium of Ural, in a match for the Russian championship. In the last game for the Europa League, the visitors eliminated Fenerbahçe. In this match against Villarreal, Zenit St. Petersburg will play in 4-4-2, benefiting ball possession and organized attacks, looking in most cases for the striker Artem Dzyuba: this player is one of the highlights of the team and has great positioning skills. For this game coach Sergey Semak cannot count on Kokorin and Kuzyaev and Erokhin, players recovering from injury.
The away team comes to this stage of the UEFA Europa League (8th Finals) after a home draw by (1‑1) and a away win by (0‑1) against Sporting CP. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 1 win, 8 draws and 6 losses in away matches, with 14 goals scored and 25 conceded; against 5 wins, 7 draws and 3 losses at their stadium, with 34 goals scored and 18 conceded. In their last match, for the Primera División, they got a home loss against Deportivo Alavés by (1‑2). In the last 4 UEFA Europa League away matches Villarreal has a record of 1 win and 3 draws.
In this competition, they haven’t lost any of the last 4 away matches. Their offense has scored consistently, as they have scored goals in 6 of the last 8 matches for this competition. In the last 19 away matches for all competitions there are 2 periods that stand out: they have scored 7 of their 18 goals between minutes (76'‑90'); they have conceded 11 of their 25 goals between minutes (76'‑90').
Villarreal comes to this game with a defeat at home, by 1-2, against Alavés, thus adding the second consecutive defeat in the Spanish championship. In the last game for the Europa League, the visitors eliminated Sporting Lisboa. In this game away from home, coach Javier Calleja will play in 3-5-2, favouring tactical organization and looking for counterattacks to take advantage of the space in the back of the opponent's defense: Alfonso Pedraza is the great responsible for this type of transition. It is important to note that Karl Toko Ekambi is the best scorer of Villarreal, with 12 goals scored. For this game, the visitors cannot count on Manu Trigueros, Javi Fuego and Bonera, all due to injury.
Zenit @2.16
Zenit +0 HT @1.49