The match of the 21st round of the La Liga between Villarreal and Real Madrid will take place on 24 January at Estadio de la Ceramica. Villarreal vs Real Madrid: prediction, betting odds and statistics.
Villarreal
Villarreal lost 0:2 away to Real Betis last weekend. The defeat was their second in four La Liga rounds, although the team had gone seven league games unbeaten before that, recording a solid run of six wins. The home side occupy third place in the table, but Atletico Madrid are now level on points and ahead only on tiebreakers. They remain eight points behind league leaders Barcelona. Since the start of the current La Liga season, the team have scored 37 goals in total — more only than Real Madrid (43) and Barcelona (54).
- The team have not lost in 15 of their last 16 La Liga home games (12 wins, 3 draws).
- The club’s unbeaten run in this competition reached 10 matches (8 wins, 2 defeats).
- In the current league season Villarreal have conceded 19 goals in total, bettered only by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid (17 each).
Potential Villarreal Lineup (4-4-2)*
Luis Junior – Pau Navarro, Alfonso Pedraza, Juan Foyth, Renato Veiga – Tajon Buchanan, Dani Parejo, Santi Comesana, Alberto Moleiro – Gerard Moreno, Georges Mikautadze.
Defender Santiago Mourinho and midfielder Santi Comesana are suspended. Midfielders Pape Gueye and Ilyas Ahoumash return after participating in the Africa Cup. Due to injuries the team will be without defenders Logan Costa and Willy Kambwala, as well as forward Pau Cabanes.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid secured their first victory under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa a week ago, comfortably beating Levante 2:0 at home. Overall the team have now won four La Liga matches in a row. By comparison, before this run the club had won only one of their previous five league matches. After the last round Real Madrid closed the gap on Barcelona to a single point. The club’s unbeaten run in La Liga stands at six matches, five of which have been wins.
- Real Madrid scored in 7 of their last 8 La Liga matches.
- The club’s unbeaten away run in the Spanish league extends to 6 matches (3 wins, 3 draws).
- At least 2 goals have been scored in 8 of the team’s matches in this competition.
Potential Real Madrid Lineup (4-3-3)*
Thibaut Courtois – Raul Asensio, Din Heisen, Federico Valverde, Alvaro Carreras – Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham – Vinicius Junior, Gonzalo Garcia, Kylian Mbappe.
Main midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is serving a suspension, while midfielder Brahim Diaz has returned from the Africa Cup. Due to injuries defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao will miss the game. The participation of forward Rodrygo is in doubt.
Referee
Cesar Soto Grado (Spain)
Matches – 10 (the La Liga, 2025/26);
Showed yellow/red cards (including second yellows) – 40;
Average yellow/red cards per match – 4;
Showed red cards – 2;
Fouls per match on average – 23;
Penalties – 20%.
Villarreal vs Real Madrid: Match Prediction
Villarreal are gradually losing ground and falling behind the leaders. The club recently suffered their second defeat in four La Liga rounds, and notably those losses came against Barcelona and Real Betis, both of whom are in the top six. Throughout the season the team have dealt confidently with mid-table and lower-ranked opponents, but they regularly struggle against higher-status rivals. Now Villarreal will face one of the most uncomfortable opponents: in the last five league meetings the club have only one draw and four defeats.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have closed in on Barcelona and can reclaim top spot at any moment. Avoiding slip-ups is crucial, and the team have met that challenge over the past four La Liga rounds. Only one of their last 13 league matches ended in defeat, and overall in the current campaign the club have lost just 2 of 20 matches.
Prediction: Real Madrid Draw No Bet
* For each team the starting lineup shown is from their previous match in this competition.
