It's a risk they have to take

Villarreal welcome Zenit in Estadio de la Cerámica for the Europa League last-16 second leg. First leg: 3-1

Villarreal registered a huge win in the first leg so they are close to qualify for the next round of Europa League knock out games. Despite some important missings in Saint Petersburg, they finaly did it. Earlier, in the last-32 round, they had eliminated Sporting Lisbon with a 0-1 win on the road followed by a 1-1 home draw. As for the League, in their most recent game they won 0-2 in Levante's home. Bruno, Bonera, Manu Trigueros and Fuego are injured.

Zenit eliminated Fenerbahce and qualified for the last-32 in the Europa League. After that triumph, they were set as favorites vs Villarreal in their home. However, their performance was quite disappointing and they suffered a rather unexpected 1-3 loss. Now they stand with the back against the wall as they need a fuge away win in Spain to qualify. In their domestic league, they registered a difficult home win 2-1 over Ufa and they remained on top of the Russian Premier League. The big clash vs Spartak Moscow away from home is following next Sunday. Claudio Marchisio and Aleksandr Erokhin are injured and won't be available tonight.

The result of the first leg gives Villarreal a clear advantage. However, Zenit have o fight for another 90 minutes, I expect them to play offensively from the very beginning. Over 2.5 goals at 1.80 is my call.