Real Madrid will continue the defence of their La Liga title this weekend when they take on Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu.
As things stand, Los Blancos are three points behind Barcelona after eight matches following five wins and three draws.
Villarreal, meanwhile, have also had a strong start to the season. The Yellow Submarine are just one point behind Real Madrid and can leapfrog them with a win on Saturday night.
How the bookies view it: The hosts start as big favourites
The bookies are perhaps guilty of underestimating Villarreal ahead of this one and have priced Real Madrid as massive favourites. Betfred have priced a win for the home team as short as 2/9 while a win for Villarreal has been priced at 10/1. The draw, which isn't that far-fetched considering both teams' league positions, has been priced at 11/2.
Recent head-to-head: Neck and neck
The recent record between Real Madrid and Villarreal makes the away side's price of 10/1 even more appealing. Villarreal have won two of their last five matches against Real Madrid and beat Carlo Ancelotti's men 3-2 at the Bernabeu just last year.
The most recent clash between the two teams finished 4-4 so neutrals will be hoping for something similar again here.
Players to watch: Vini to rediscover his spark?
At the start of the season, the football world was excited by the prospect of Kylian Mbappe playing alongside Vinicius Jr. However, so far, only the Frenchman has managed to score goals regularly within the partnership while Vinicius looks like a shadow of the player that lit up La Liga and the Champions League last season.
The 24-year-old has only scored three goals in ten appearances this season and while that wouldn't be a bad return for most wingers, he is expected to win the Ballon d'Or in a few months so higher standards are expected.
The Brazilian missed both matches against Villarreal last season and has only ever scored one goal against them in the past. Based on that, this perhaps shouldn't be the game where he does recapture his best form but with nobody expecting him to do anything, he could prove everyone wrong.
Predicted line-ups
Real Madrid have welcomed back some big players in recent weeks and Kylian Mbappe is expected to start on Saturday night returning on the bench against Lille. They are still without four players, including Thibaut Courtois.
Villarreal have a longer injury list with six players expected to miss this one including Gerard Moreno and their top goalscorer, Ayoze Perez.
Real Madrid: Lunin – Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy – Camavinga, Bellingham, Valverde – Vincius, Mbappe, Rodrygo
Villarreal: Conde – Femenia, Costa, Bailly, Cardona – Suarez, Gueye, Parejo, Akhomach – Barry, Pepe
Anything else catch the eye?
Villarreal have been a highly entertaining team to watch this season and every single match they've played in has seen both teams get on the scoresheet. Real Madrid are also very open under Carlo Ancelotti and five of their last six matches have also seen both teams score. Both teams to score on Saturday has been priced at 8/13 by Betfred.
This La Liga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal will be played on Oct 5, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Villarreal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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