Real Madrid Aiming to Catch Girona in Title Race as They Host Villarreal
Real Madrid vs Villarreal CF - 17/12/2023
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The final fixture to be played in La Liga on the 17th of December takes place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu as Real Madrid meet Villarreal.
The hosts begin the weekend in 2nd place on 39 points while the visitors are in 14th place on 16 points.
Real Madrid come into the game on the back of a 3-2 victory at Union Berlin in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Real Madrid had already booked their place in the round of 16 and fell behind on the stroke of half time.
Into the second half and Real Madrid scored 2 goals to take the lead only to concede the equaliser in the 85th minute.
There was still enough time for Real Madrid to dampen the spirits of the home crowd with the winning goal 4 minutes later.
The win in Germany means Real Madrid are undefeated in their 15 most recent fixtures in all competitions.
They have won 6 of their last 7 matches, with the additional wins coming over Valencia and Granada at home plus Cadiz away in La Liga and Sporting Braga plus Napoli at home in the Champions League.
Trends show Real Madrid are undefeated in their 18 most recent home games in all competitions.
They are undefeated in 25 of their last 26 home La Liga matches and have scored 2 or more goals in 6 of their last 7 home league fixtures.
Villarreal travel to the Spanish capital having beat Rennes 3-2 away in their final Europa League group game on Thursday night.
That result was enough to move Villarreal to the top of the group and ensure progress to the round of 16 in the Europa League this season.
The victory over Rennes was the first win in 4 fixtures in all competitions for Villarreal. They were held to draw at Sevilla in La Liga and at home by Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League.
There was also a disappointing 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad in La Liga.
Trends show Villarreal are undefeated in 8 of their last 9 away games in all competitions but they have won only 1 of their last 6 away matches in La Liga.
Villarreal have seen both teams score in 5 of their 6 most recent away trips in the league.
Team news: Real Madrid have several players in the treatment room, including Daniel Carvajal, Vinícius Júnior, Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Güler, Aurelien Tchouameni, Éder Militão, and Thibaut Courtois.
Villarreal are without the injured trio of Santi Comesaña, Aissa Mandi, and Yéremi Pino. There are also doubts over the fitness of Denis Suarez.
Villarreal have been entertaining to watch on the road this season and they could trouble the Real Madrid defence.
However, Real Madrid, even with their injury list, are a force at home and we expect to see the hosts come out on top, with both teams scoring.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Es1
592813
1
3 - 1
3.26
10°
1.29
1.29
5.50
9.00
no
no
no
4 - 1(2 - 0)
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