Villarreal-Real Madrid is a match on the 16th day of La Liga and is played on Saturday at 4:15pm: odds, predictions, TV and streaming
If Real Madrid were able to immediately catch up with Barcelona, who had put their noses in front before the World Cup, it is thanks to their Ballon d’Or Karim Benzema.
A brace from the extraordinary French striker, eager to shake off the controversy surrounding his early departure from the national team’s training camp, settled the rough match against Real Sociedad – which was only unblocked a few minutes from the final whistle – and allowed the reigning Spanish and European champions to take advantage of the contextual false step by the Blaugrana, who were stopped in the derby by Espanyol. Now the La Liga classification sees Real Madrid and Barcelona paired on 38 points: it promises to be a scintillating duel between the two great rivals of Spanish football, given the enormous gap between them and their pursuers. Carlo Ancelotti’s side still fail to shine as much as they would like, yet in the meantime they also had time and opportunity to collect another victory this week, beating little Cacereno 1-0 in the Copa del Rey – Brazilian Rodrygo’s decisive goal – and advancing to the next round.
Setien found the square
Two hard-fought and far from clear-cut victories, but it was all they needed to approach the difficult challenge with Villarreal in the right mood.
The Yellow Submarine seems to have filed the painful and unexpected departure of Unai Emery to England, and new coach Quique Setien has found the right framework, recompacting even the locker room, orphaned by the coach who was the author of the last extraordinary seasons. Villarreal have won their last two Liga matches, beating Espanyol and winning the derby against Valencia (2-1) and in the Copa del Rey, despite going into a resounding disadvantage, they overwhelmed Cartagena 5-1. With six more points the yellows are now seventh in the standings but only three points off fourth place.
The Prediction
The Estadio de la Ceramica has become a taboo for Real Madrid. The Blancos have not won in this stadium since 2017 and the last five previous fixtures have ended in draws. It promises to be another well-balanced, hard-fought match, although Real are slight favourites. Leaving aside the final result, we recommend betting on goals: both should score at least one on each side.
Villarreal v Real Madrid matchday squad
- VILLARREAL (4-3-3): Reina; Foyth, Albiol, Pau Torres, Alberto Moreno; Capoue, Parejo, Coquelin; Chukwueze, Gerard Moreno, Pino.
- REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouaméni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
