Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal Betting Tips and Predictions

Atletico have really lost ground on Barcelona in recent weeks with the Catalans in fine form. Their defeat at the Camp Nou and dropped points at home to Sevilla mean they are 9 points behind Barca with this game in hand. This could be a defining week in their season with a Champions League trip to PSV on Wednesday prior to the Madrid derby at the Bernabeu next weekend. This game could be just as tricky as those two though with Villarreal going very nicely indeed.

The Yellow Submarine are unbeaten in 11 league games although 3 of the last 5 have been draws. They are in 4th place with a nice cushion on the sides below them and they’ll take confidence from their shock win at the Vicente Calderon last season when they ended Atleti’s long unbeaten home run. They were also winners on Thursday in the Europa League, impressively beating Napoli 1-0.

Reason for Betting Tips

There have only been 3 goals in the last 4 matches involving Villarreal with three 1-0 wins and a 0-0 draw in that run. Both teams have scored in only 1 of their last 8 fixtures in all competitions. These two clubs have the two best defensive records in La Liga so it is logical to think that defence could come out on top here and 1 goal may settle it either way. Therefore consider backing under 2.5 goals & both teams to score – NO at 5/6.

Recent Form

All competitions, most recent first:

Atletico Madrid: WWLLDD

Villarreal: WWDWDD

Head-to-Head

The last 4 meetings have all finished with 1-0 scorelines with 2 wins each. Both teams have scored in only 1 of the last 7 meetings.

Statistics

Both teams have scored in only 29% of games involving Atleti this season. There have been over 2.5 goals in just 36% of Villarreal’s away games.

Team News

Atletico Madrid: Jose Gimenez is suspended leaving Diego Godin without his regular central defensive partner. Tiago is also still sidelined with injury. Fernando Torres could get another start having scored in both his last two matches.

Villarreal: Eric Bailly misses out with a shoulder injury but otherwise Villarreal can name their strongest eleven.

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