Atletico Madrid will be looking to breathe new life into their top four push as they travel to Villarreal for a Monday night La liga fixture. Atletico have been poor on their recent travels and with Villarreal looking solid at the moment, a home win could be on the cards here.
Villarreal went into the international break off the back of a 1-0 victory over Valencia in their previous La Liga fixture. Jorge Cuenca’s second half effort proved to be the difference in a closely fought encounter.
That result maintains Villarreal’s recent good form as they have now won five of their last six matches across all competitions. Marcelino’s men are currently six points off the top six and will be hoping to make a late push for a European finish.
The win over Valencia also extends a solid home record for Villarreal, who have won their last three matches in front of their fans. Overall, they are unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 home matches across all competitions but have failed to keep a clean sheet in three of the last four in that run.
Atletico Madrid are coming off a disappointing 3-0 home defeat to Barcelona in their previous La Liga fixture. They were second best for much of the encounter and constantly left exposed at the back.
That was the second straight La Liga defeat for Atletico Madrid, who were beaten 2-0 by Cadiz in their previous fixture. Diego Simeone’s men are currently outside the Champions League places just one point behind fourth placed Athletic Bilbao.
The defeat to Cadiz extends a poor record on the road for Atletico Madrid, who are winless in their last six away matches across all competitions. They have been beaten four times in that run, failing to score in all four defeats.
How the bookies view it
Despite their recent struggles, Atletico Madrid still have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 6/5 by bet365 to claim the win. A victory for Villarreal is valued at 21/10 by Paddy Power quite 10bet is offering odds of 11/4 for a draw.
Head to head
Villarreal have a 16-15 advantage with 14 draws from 45 previous matches against Atletico Madrid. Both teams have claimed one win each from the last three meetings, although Atletico ran out 3-1 winners in the reverse fixture back in November.
Players to watch
Alexander Sorloth has been one of the standout players for Villarreal having scored 13 La Liga goals this season. The striker has also found the net five times in the last four La Liga matches and is priced at 3/1 by Unibet to find the net on Monday.
Alvaro Morata has 14 La Liga goals this season while Antoine Griezmann has found the net 11 times and both men will be the ones to watch for Atletico Madrid. Morata is priced at 13/8 by Unibet to score anytime on Monday while Griezmann is priced at 15/8 by bet365 in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
The reverse fixture produced over 3.5 goals and a repeat is priced at 13/8 by BetVictor. Villarreal have opened the scoring in the last three meetings with Atletico Madrid and could be backed to grab the first goal on Monday at 6/5 with bet365.
There have been first half goals for both teams in their last two meetings and Monday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 29/10 with Coral.
This La Liga match between Villarreal and Atletico Madrid will be played on Apr 1, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
