Xabi Alonso’s males had gained all six of their LaLiga fixtures till they visited the Metropolitano final Saturday.
What occurred subsequent was scarcely plausible. For the primary time since 1950, Atlético scored 5 objectives in opposition to their largest rivals, securing a 5-2 victory within the course of.
Actual bounced again on Tuesday night with a stable 5-0 win over Champions League debutants Kairat in what was their second successive win within the competitors.
Villarreal secured a share of the spoils in opposition to Italian giants Juventus on Wednesday night as Renato Veiga scored a late equaliser.
They’ve loved a superb begin to the home marketing campaign, profitable 5 of the opening seven LaLiga matches to occupy third within the desk.
Crew information
Alonso will likely be with out the companies of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy and Antonio Rüdiger for the weekend conflict.
Éder Militão must be able to return to the beginning XI whereas Jude Bellingham could possibly be set to make simply his second begin of the season after recovering from a shoulder damage.
Villarreal are lacking a number of key gamers for this significant league match. Certainly, Logan Costa, Willy Kambwala, Juan Foyth and Pau Cabanes are all positively out.
Ayoze Pérez and Gerard Moreno are thought of main doubts, that means supervisor Marcelino must make a number of modifications to his beginning XI.
Kylian Mbappé is a person in type
This tie is a difficult one for Los Blancos undoubtedly, however Alonso will likely be relying on Mbappé to proceed his spectacular scoring streak.
The Frenchman has scored in his earlier eight matches for membership and nation, netting a hat-trick final outing in opposition to Kairat within the Champions League.
In his debut marketing campaign at Madrid, Mbappé scored 44 objectives in all competitions for the membership. After simply 9 membership appearances this time period, the 26-year-old has already notched 13 objectives. Count on him to be Madrid’s foremost risk within the ultimate third in opposition to the Yellow Submarine.
Villarreal’s defence is cussed
After seven rounds of matches in LaLiga, Villarreal have conceded simply 5 objectives. Alongside Barcelona, that is the perfect defensive document within the league.
They rank joint-first in LaLiga for objectives conceded per sport (0.7) and for clear sheets (3), with solely Barcelona matching both of those numbers.
Holding Mbappé and co quiet will arguably be their hardest problem of the season to date for Villarreal, however don’t be stunned to see the house aspect drawing a clean.
Prediction
Madrid will likely be in a assured temper coming off a 5-0 European victory and they are going to be aiming to return to profitable methods in LaLiga.
Marcelino’s males gained’t make it straightforward on the Bernabéu, that’s for certain. However we at FotMob are predicting a slender 1-0 win for Los Blancos – a consequence that can see them leapfrog Barcelona on the prime of the desk.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
You may comply with all of the video games from the Premier League on FotMob within the 2025/26 season – with in-depth stat protection, together with xG, shot maps, and participant rankings. Obtain the free app right here.