We predict a 2-2 draw between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal on Saturday.
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Villarreal head to the capital to face Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday afternoon.
Defeat to Leganes last time out was a major setback for Atleti in their bid for the title. The loss saw Diego Simeone’s side relinquish the top spot to Real Madrid, but they can move back into first place with a win here, as Real don’t play until Saturday night.
Coming off a challenging Champions League matchup with Bayer Leverkusen, fatigue is a factor to be considered for the hosts when making Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal predictions.
Dating back to the middle of November, Villarreal have only won two of their last nine matches. Those two wins came in their last three outings, however, including a 4-0 thrashing of Mallorca on Monday night.
Sitting six points behind fourth, the Yellow Submarine are eyeing a Champions League place. This is a big opportunity for Marcelino Garcia’s team to close the gap.
Atletico Madrid probable XI:
Oblak; Llorente, Normand, Lenglet, Galan; Simeone, De Paul, Koke, Gallagher; Griezmann, Alvarez.
Villarreal probable XI:
Junior; Femenia, Foyth, Costa, Cardona; Pina, Gueye, Parejo, Baena; Moreno, Barry.
Villarreal’s 20 La Liga matches have produced a league-high total of 37 goals. The Yellow Submarine scored four in the first half an hour on Monday night and played out a 2-2 draw with Leganes at the interval three matches ago.
Atletico’s first halves have often been low-scoring, with a total of 19 goals. The hosts, like other La Liga teams this season, will not be able to resist getting pulled into an end-to-end match with Villarreal.
Two or three first-half goals to be scored is a great option at 2.62. Alternatively, you could take the first half to have more goals at 3.10.
Atletico Madrid have dropped points in three of their six matches directly after Champions League fixtures. Their three wins came against Mallorca, Real Valladolid, and Getafe.
Villarreal are only marginally behind Atleti’s expected goal difference in La Liga (+0.63 per 90 compared to +0.9). Atleti have won six home league fixtures in a row, but that can partly be attributed to a favourable run of matches.
The hosts have lost to Lille and drawn with Real Madrid at the Metropolitano this term. We see good value in Villarreal taking something from this match.
Three of Atletico’s last five league matches have had over 9.5 total corners. Villarreal have also cleared this line in their last two games.
Taking the over on corners won’t be among the most popular Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal predictions, which is why we can get a good price on a reasonable line with 1xBet.
Both of these teams are in the bottom half of La Liga in average corners per match (Atleti at eight, Villarreal at 8.6). However, they have started to defy that trend of late, with double-digit corners in four of their last five matches.