Real Madrid vs Villarreal Betting Tips & Predictions

Real Madrid are still 3rd favourites in the title race, a point behind the top two and with an inferior head-to-head record against both Barcelona and Atleti. However the fact they are even in with a shout is remarkable and is of course mostly down to Barcelona’s poor form. Real Madrid have been going pretty well though in the past few weeks with that Champions League comeback win over Wolfsburg and the victory in El Clasico the obvious highlights. They were crushing 5-1 winners at local rivals Getafe on Saturday with 5 different scorers and they are looking as good as they have done for some time.

Villarreal will provide them a test though. They Yellow Submarine look on course for Champions League football next season but could see their lead on the chasing pack cut to just 3 points if they lose this. Villarreal were beaten 2-1 in Madrid at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday but had won all of their previous 4 matches. They have a Europa League Semi-Final with Liverpool next week following a potentially tricky home game with Real Sociedad so Marcelino must decide how best to shuffle his players around. He did some serious rotation on Sunday but top scorer Cedric Bakambu could return here while perhaps more significantly so should captain Bruno in midfield.

Even though this is 3rd against 4th in La Liga, there is still a significant gulf in class between the two sides. Los Blancos have a 15 point advantage on Villarreal. They have hosted the sides in 5th, 6th and 7th over the past couple of months and have hammered in 15 goals in those 3 games. Villarreal are strong at the back with the 2nd best defensive record in the league but it’s still a big ask for them to keep Real Madrid’s dangerous front three quiet so Los Blancos should win the game but they have conceded in 9 of their last 13 home league games so backing Real Madrid to win & Both Teams to Score at 23/20 might be the best way to go here.