Real Madrid will be looking to return to winning ways in Spain’s top flight as they face an away game against Villarreal on Saturday afternoon.
Before the international break, Los Blancos endured a 4-1 loss to Valencia to slip to fourth in the league, two spots, and two points behind Villarreal, who made an impressive start to 2020-21. The Yellow Submarine made an impressive start to the season, securing them a second position in the league with 18 points from nine matches.
Villarreal would again be injured without the assistance of Jaume Costa, Juan Foyth, and Alberto Moreno, but they are fine otherwise as far as absentees are concerned. There is every possibility that Emery will continue to pick the same XI that took to the field against Getafe, with fit-again Gerard Moreno joining Paco Alcacer and Moi Gomez in the attack.
As Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane have limped off the pitch with wounds when in action with their international teams, Zinedine Zidane has a possible injury problem on his side. The positive COVID-19 tests for Eder Militao and Eden Hazard will be missing as well while Nacho is not yet fully fit.
The last three times Real Madrid hosted Villarreal, the game ended with a 2-2 draw. This season, the backline of Madrid has looked very leaky, and Paco Alcacer and Gerard Moreno are going to be chomping at the bit to take advantage of a provisional Madrid backline. Los Blancos are still a threat, with the brilliance of Karim Benzema out front, so they can win a high-scoring contest.
Villarreal possible starting lineup: Asenjo; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Trigueros, Iborra, Parejo; Moreno, Alcacer, Gomez
Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Nacho, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Vinicius, Benzema, Asensio
