Atletico Madrid will aim to get their title challenge back on track as they host Villarreal in a Spanish La Liga fixture on Saturday. They face a Villarreal side that have been poor on their recent travels and should come out on top.
Atleti suffered a slight setback in the title race as they fell 1-0 at Leganes last time out in La Liga. They followed that up with a 2-1 come from behind win over German club Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
Diego Simeone's men remain one of the form teams in La Liga at the moment and having won the previous eight matches, they will be confident of making a swift return to winning ways. They are also unbeaten at home and have won their last five matches in front of their fans.
Villarreal were rampant in their previous La Liga fixture as they eased to a 4-0 victory over Mallorca on Monday night. However, that was only the second win in the last nine matches in all competitions for Marcelino’s men, who have struggled lately.
The Yellow Submarine have also found things difficult on their recent travels, losing three of their last four away matches in all competitions. However, their only win in that run was a 5-2 victory at Leganes and they will look to build on that result.
How the bookies view it: Atleti highly fancied
Atletico Madrid are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies and are priced at 4/7 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Villarreal is valued at 7/2 by BoyleSports while a draw is set at odds of 3/1.
Head to head: Evenly matched rivals
Atletico Madrid and Villarreal have picked up 16 wins each with 15 draws from 47 previous matches. However, Atleti have won two of the last three meetings while the reverse fixture back in August ended in a 2-2 draw with Alexander Sorloth on target for the Madrid club.
Players to watch: No answers for Alvarez
Julian Alvarez has six La Liga goals for Atletico Madrid and will be the one to watch on Saturday. The striker has also been on target on target four times in the last four matches and is priced at 11/8 by BoyleSports to maintain his scoring run.
Ayoze Perez could be the one to watch for Villarreal as he continues his return from injury. The forward is the leading scorer for the visitors with eight goals and could be worth keeping an eye on at 15/8 with BoyleSports.
Probable line-ups
Sorloth is a doubt for Atletico Madrid with a muscle problem Clement Lenglet and Javi Galan are suspended. Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann should continue their partnership in attack while Robin Le Normand should feature at the back.
Perez made his return from injury as a second half substitute in Villarreal’s win over Mallorca and could earn a start on Saturday. Yeremy Pino and Alex Baena should also feature following their goals on Monday night while Alfonso Pedraza and Ilias Akhomach remain suspended.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Molina, Le Normand, Witsel, Lino, Koke, De Paul, Barrios, Gallagher, Alvarez, Griezmann
Villarreal: Luiz Junior, Cardona, Costa, Foyth, Femenia, Baena, Parejo, Gueye, Yeremy, Barry, Perez
Anything else catch the eye?
Five of the last seven matches between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal have produced over 3.5 goals, which is priced at 6/4 by BoyleSports. Over 2.5 goals is valued at 4/7 by BoyleSports, who are also offering odds of 6/10 on both teams to score.
Given the minimal odds for a straight Atletico Madrid victory, a win and over 2.5 goals can be considered at 5/4 with BoyleSports. The hosts have scored in both halves in three of their last four matches against Villarreal and a similar outcome is priced at 13/10 with BoyleSports.
This La Liga match between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal will be played on Jan 25, 2025 and kick off at 15:15. Check below for our tipsters best Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
