Villarreal

Villarreal’s nightmare season got even worse with a shock 2-1 defeat to rock-bottom Real Zaragoza last weekend. Two goals in the final five minutes gave Zaragoza just their fourth win of the entire campaign and continued Villarreal’s shocking form on the road.

They have now lost nine, drawn three and won just once in their 13 away games this season.

It is hard to believe that Villarreal actually finished fourth in La Liga last season, qualifying for the Champions League, but that defeat at Zaragoza has left them in 17th place, just three points above the drop zone.

The result also means a win against their Madrid-based opponents on Monday is even more important if they are to avoid dropping further into the relegation mire – the frightening prospect of going down is suddenly a very real one.

The visit of Getafe – who are just two places and two points better off – represents a huge opportunity for the Yellow Submarine to gain an advantage over a relegation rival, jump up three places in the table and create breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.

On paper they should take the points. Villarreal have an impressive record versus Getafe at home, winning six and drawing one of their last seven meetings.

You also have to consider their impressive form at El Madrigal, despite their poor league position.

Villarreal have lost just once all season in the league on their home ground – a crazy statistic if you look at their position in the table. Indeed, only Barcelona have lost less at home in the league.

Their haul of 20 goals scored is also only bettered by one team outside of the top six.

The Azulones meanwhile haven’t won in their last five, and have won just three times on the road this season.

The return of Marco Ruben is another reason to put your money behind Villarreal. The Argentine has hit seven goals in 22 appearances and is set to return from injury after missing last weekend’s defeat.

Therefore, despite their woes and actually being below Getafe in the table, it is well worth backing José Francisco Molina’s men for the win.

A 2-0 victory is a handy priced 7/1, while a Villarreal half time/full time is another option at 15/8.

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England

The newest release of the standings from the governing body of football show that Fabio Capello’s men have climbed from eighth to seventh – despite the fact they managed only one win and two draws at the World Cup.

Germany (5/1 to win Euro 2012 outright), who overcame England 4-1 in the second round in South Africa and finished in third place in the World Cup, are now ranked as the fourth best team, a rise of two places on their previous position.

Following their World Cup win, Spain (7/2 to win) have replaced Brazil at the top of the Fifa world rankings.

England could take some solace following their World Cup showing in that they have risen, whereas two other teams that disappointed in South Africa have plummeted down the Fifa rankings.

The former World Cup winners France and Italy (12/1 and 9/1 to win Euro 2012), who both failed to get out of the group stage, have slipped 12 and six places respectively in the standings to 21st and 11th.

England could class themselves lucky that their performances in South Africa did not result in them dropping down the list, especially as the latest release of the world rankings comes a day after a separate Fifa report showed it was officially the Three Lions’ worst World Cup performance in history.

Capello’s side were ranked 13th out of the 32 teams competing in South Africa, which beat their previous worst of 11th in 1958.

This ranking was also topped by Spain, with the top four positions mirroring the final tournament finishes so Holland, Germany and Uruguay took the next three slots.

England suffered the embarrassment of finishing behind the likes of Japan and Chile in the standings, and Fifa president Sepp Blatter stated he could not understand why the national team failed to perform in South Africa.

He said: “You will have to ask the Football Association.

“England is considered as being the motherland of football, as Brazil is the heartbeat of football, but there are no small national teams any more.

“There are small countries but their national teams are very strong as football has developed.”

One member of the England World Cup squad who thinks the situation is not all bad is Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe.

He scored against Slovenia in South Africa and has told Sky Sports that he thinks the current squad are good enough to still be competing at the 2014 World Cup and Capello remains “definitely the right man” for the England job.

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