Breathing new life into relegation contenders is a particular theme across Europe in January. Like Watford in England, Espanyol have been through two managers already this season and like the Hornets, they may just have struck gold with their third choice. Abelardo immediately gave the basement dwellers a boost, with Espanyol delivering their best performance of the season in a memorable 2-2 draw against Barcelona in the Catalan derby. One thing is for certain, Abelardo’s Espanyol are going to take on this fight playing on the front foot. Which makes their visit to La Ceramica all the more fascinating, because few teams do front football better than Villarreal. Spurred on by the ageless Santi Cazorla, Villarreal have scored the most goals after the big two in La Liga this season. When you consider that the visitors have just signed Raul de Tomas to help up front, there is a veritable coterie of attacking players that can really lighten up this contest. Should be good this one.