Villarreal vs Granada CF preview - Musacchio looking to bounce back

Granada are in the firing line on Friday night as fourth-placed Villarreal look to get back on track after suffering their first defeat of the season last time out.

Promoted Villarreal had enjoyed a memorable start to life back in the top flight, taking 14 points from a possible 18 in the first six rounds, but their unbeaten run came to an end on Sunday when they lost 1-0 at Real Betis - their first away defeat since January.

The Yellow Submarine felt they deserved at least a draw from that match and are now determined to try and get a good result against another Andalusian side in Granada.

Defender Mateo Musacchio said: "Granada are coming off a win, but we have high hopes and are really keen to turn round what happened on Sunday in Seville, and even more so seeing as it's a home game and in front of our fans.

"We were on a good run and won a lot of games and then we suffered our first defeat, although the general feeling was good and I think that we deserved much more."

Musacchio knows it could be a tricky night for his team though, with Granada's confidence boosted by Monday's 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. Granada are also unbeaten away from home this season and have picked up five of their eight points on their travels.

"Granada are a very good team, they have good individual players and are very strong in defence. I'm sure they are going to make things difficult for us," added Musacchio.

Granada picked up their second win of the season on Monday as a second-half brace from Youssef El-Arabi helped them see off Athletic, who would have replaced Villarreal in the top four with a win.

Colombian defender Jeison Murillo is now hoping to build on that victory at El Madrigal, saying: "It doesn't matter what ground we are at, we are going there looking for the three points."

Lucas Alcaraz's men moved up to 12th with Monday's win but it came at a cost with Dani Benitez suffering a thigh injury that will sideline the on-loan midfielder for up to six weeks.