La Liga: Villarreal Pose a Real and Present Danger to Stumbling Atleti

Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid

This weekend’s Primera Division action closes with a Monday night belter when La Liga: Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid will pack the fans in at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

The Yellow Submarine come into this game on the back of a 1-0 victory over Valencia while Atleti lost 3-0 at home to Barcelona, a result which left Diego Simeone’s team outside the top four.

This is a real test for the visitors against a side which has been rejuvenated under Marcelino and another loss would see Los Rojiblancos slip further off the pace.

The pre-match Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid betting odds edge towards an away win, but Simeone will make it crystal clear to his players that the Yellow Submarine will take some sinking.

Talking Points

Villarreal’s Euro charge

Marcelino was the third manager to rock up at the Estadio de la Ceramica this season, but since he took charge in November the Yellow Sub has begun to surface. Quique Setien and Pacheta both went by the wayside to make way for the former Valencia boss and now Villarreal are back in with a chance of European football.

They made the Europa League Round of 16 this season but Villarreal have just gone out of the competition to Olympique Marseilles, while their league form has been outstanding over the past month, racking up four consecutive wins in some style. They followed up a 3-1 win away to Real Sociedad with a 5-1 spanking of Granada at home. After losing their away Europa tie to Marseilles, Villarreal picked up a 3-2 win away to Real Betis, beat OM at home and then saw off Los Ches.

Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth is in hot form; he scored a hat trick in the win over Granada to make it 13 for the campaign while Gerard Moreno has ten goals. And with the creative talent of the likes of Etienne Capoue and Goncalo Guedes in support this is a potent attack, scoring 15 goals over the last six games.

Griezmann out for Atleti

While Villarreal are out of Europe and firing in the league, Los Rojiblancos are on a poor run in La Liga but they pulled off a stunning win over Inter Milan to reach the Champions League quarter finals. Simeone has relied heavily on his front two of Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann but right now he is without the France star who is nursing an injury to his right thigh and is likely to be sidelined for a couple of weeks. With 11 goals and seven assists the 30 year old has been Simeone’s go to man; he’s a match-winner and a team player and Griezmann will be a big miss. Defender Mario Hermoso is also in the treatment room and Atleti have two more key players missing through suspension. Nahuel Molina has joined Rodrigo de Paul on the naughty step as Los Rojiblancos were humbled by Barcelona on their last outing; the Argentine wingback picked up a red card on an all round miserable day for Atleti. That loss followed a shock 2-0 defeat away to Cadiz and a Copa del Rey hammering against Athletic Bilbao.

Without his strike partner a lot of the weight will fall on the shoulders of Alvaro Morata, while midfield ace Koke will step in to replace De Paul who has accumulated enough yellow cards to have a week off.

History

The head to head Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid results have been really close over the past 25 years with the Yellow Submarine ahead by 16 wins to 15 and there have been 14 draws.

Atleti won 3-1 when the two teams met in Madrid in November as Griezmann was on target for Los Rojiblancos and Moreno scored Villarreal’s goal.

The hosts are in better form with five wins and a draw from the last six, while Atleti have two wins, one draw and three defeats; and Villarreal are unbeaten in seven games at home.

Betting Tip

Marcelino’s in-form men are at SBOTOP odds of at 2.89 to pick up a fifth consecutive league win while Atleti are priced at 2.17 and the draw is at 3.38.

This is a huge game for both clubs and could be pivotal in their seasons. With nine games left Atletico can ill afford to drop many more points or they could be looking at Europa League football next term. For the hosts, Europa is the target and they are on a hot streak of form but, with some ground still to make up it is essential for them to keep momentum. In front of their own fans and with a few key absentees for their visitors I expect the Yellow Submarine to at least continue their unbeaten home run.

 

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