Villarreal

Finished outside of the top 7 last season, much to their dismay. This means they will not play in Europe this season, which has naturally prompted a flurry of changes at the club. They may be a somewhat small club (by Spanish standards) but they're used to being in Europe so something had to give, although it hasn't been experienced boss Marcelino, who remains at the helm. From their top ten starters last season, they're potentially without half of them with four having moved on, and Baena likely to miss the start of the season, as well as Ilias Akhomach Chakkour, both of which were at the Olympics. They've moved on more players than most Spanish clubs in the summer as part of their overhaul, although some of their incoming players can only be described as optimistic acquisitions such as Nicolas Pepe, for example. Given the relative turmoil that walks hand-in-hand with such changes, it's logical that El Submarino Amarillo will have a slow start to the season, something which has been accentuated lately by injuries to Foyth, Kambwala, and Gueye. It's worth noting that a number of the players to leave represented the spine of the team so they should find the first few weeks tough going. Both FB positions are going to be hard for them to deal with this season with Foyth injured for a while, Cardona having only just joined, Pedraza's fitness concerns. CB looks solid, as does their CM position. May find themselves lacking a poacher on the occasions where Gerard Moreno is out so goal-scoring could become an issue.