Villareal vs Real Madrid 2019/2020 Match Preview – which defence will concede most goals?

Villareal vs Real Madrid 2019/2020 – Team news, injury updates, predictions, betting tips and more

Villareal and Real Madrid face off at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Sunday after both teams failed to get three points in their games against Levante and Real Valladoid respectively.

Villareal started the season with a feisty 4-4 draw with Granada but will be disappointed by their 2-1 loss to Levante last weekend. Real Madrid will also hope to return to winning ways following the disappointment of their 1-1 draw with Real Valladoid who put up a defiant performance and left with a well earned point at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

Zinedine Zidane’s men are favorites going into this tie and are third in the table, behind Atletico Madrid and Sevilla; the only two teams with a 100% winning start so far. 

Villareal Manager Javi Calleja will hope that his young and promising Nigerian star Samuel Chukwueze will cause problems for the Real Madrid defence, similar to his performance against Barcelona last season. However, an issue of concern is how they have conceded late goals in their first two games and it is not out of place to expect a late goal in this game as well. 

At the start of the season, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was left with no choice but to play Welshman Gareth Bale after their summer squabble due to the injuries of some of their important players and it has proven to be a good decision so far.

He was impressive in their first game against Celta Vigo but was somewhat quiet in their 1-1 draw against Real Valladoid last weekend. Still, I do not think he will leave the Santiago Bernabeu this in this transfer window as we all thought. Gareth has the abilities required to get past the Villareal defence and we might just see something special. Who knows? Zidane will definitely want to make sure that the club returns to winning ways before the first international break of the season next month. 

Injury Updates:

Villareal are still without players Ruben Peña and Bruno Soriano due to injuries. Their new signing Alberto Moreno is also a doubt after he picked up a knock.

We expect to see striker Gerard Moreno lead the attacking line with support from wide players like Chukwueze and Ekambi. 

Real Madrid new signing Eden Hazard is still a doubt for the game even though he was spotted in training on Friday. Marco Asensio has been ruled out long term due to a knee injury. Isco and returnee James Rodriguez are also injured and join teammates Rodrygo Goes and Diaz on the treatment table.

Luka Modric is back from his one match suspension and is expected to return to the midfield with Casemiro and Tony Kroos. Kareem Benzema will lead the attack line with support from Gareth Bale and Vinicius Junior. 

Possible XI:

Villareal: Fernandez, Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Quintilla,Iborra, Cazorla, Ekambi, Gomez, Chukwueze, Moreno. 

Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Bale, Vinicius, Benzema.

Villareal vs Real Madrid H2H:
Games between these two teams are always high scoring and Villareal have been impressive especially at home. Real Madrid have not won away to Villareal since 2017 and before that, 2014. The last two games at the estadio de la cerámica ended in a 2-2 draw.

In the league, Villareal have not beaten Real Madrid at home since December 2015. In their last game in May, Los Blancos beat the Yellow Submarines 3-2 in Madrid. 

Summary:

Games: 27

Villareal: W4, L14, D9

Real Madrid: W14, L4, D9

League Form:

Villareal: DL

Real Madrid: WD

Betting Tips and Predictions:

Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. I fancy a Real Madrid 2-1 win.