Top-four contenders Villarreal will be bidding to continue with their impressive form in La Liga when they host Rayo Vallecano at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia. The host team is presently tied for fifth place in the standings with fourth-place Atletico Madrid on points, while Rayo has also performed admirably this season, collecting 26 points to hold down the ninth place. Since the beginning of November last year, the yellow submarines have yet to lose in any La Liga match, winning in four of their last five games. They were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Celta Vigo on January 13, but they managed to return to winning ways in their last fixture defeating Girona 1-0 from the spot. 

Their Copa del Rey campaign was ended by Real Madrid but they are still in the Europa Conference League tournament, having topped Group C ahead of Lech Poznan. They will be focusing on the league though as their top priority. They are currently level on points with Atletico Bilbao and will have to push harder if they are to finish in the UEFA Champions League spots. So far, they have a run of 5 wins, 4 draws, and 5 defeats in La Liga this season. Villarreal have the second-best defensive record in the league so far after top-of-the-table Barcelona after conceding only 13 goals.

Rayo Vallecano returned to La Liga through a La Liga 2 playoff in the 2020-2021 campaign and they finished 12th in La Liga last season. They have secured back-to-back campaigns at this level of football for the first time since 2016. There are currently no indications that Rayo will be involved in a relegation struggle in the remaining months of the season because they are only two points behind Real Betis in sixth place and have a comfortable nine-point margin between themselves and the bottom three teams.