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Ayoze Pérez
Villarreal beat SSC Napoli 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League 4 days before this LaLiga fixture against Elche, and that is the performance Martin Anselmi's side have to deal with at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Saturday 17 October 2026, kick-off 15:15 BST. Inigo Perez's Villarreal have taken 9 points from their last six matches against Elche's 5. Both sides have been scoring and conceding in roughly equal measure, which is why this one is unlikely to stay quiet.
Villarreal's three wins in their last six have all finished 3-1: SSC Napoli at home on 13 October, Levante UD at home on 20 September, and Malaga CF away on 17 September. That is a side with a settled idea of how it wins games. Score three, let one in, take the points.
The flip side is that the one in keeps arriving. Villarreal have no clean sheets in those six matches and have conceded nine goals in them. Three or more goals were scored in five of the six.
So no, the Napoli result wasn't a one-off, but it wasn't a defensive breakthrough either.
The 0-1 defeat away to Real Madrid 7 days ago is the only game in the run where Villarreal failed to score, and losing at the Bernabeu is not the sort of result you build a case on. More useful is the 1-2 home defeat by Real Betis on 14 September, which is the reminder that the Ceramica has not been a fortress: two wins from three at home in this sample, not three.
Villarreal
Elche
