Villarreal vs. Real Madrid: La Liga Game Preview

Villarreal hosts Real Madrid in what promises to be an entertaining La Liga game on Saturday. Villarreal is coming off a 2-1 home win against Valencia on December 31, while Real Madrid beat Valladolid 2-0 on the road on December 30.

Real Madrid is in second place in the La Liga standings with 38 points in 15 games, while Villarreal is in seventh place with 24 points in 15 games.

The player to watch in this game is Karim Benzema, who has seven goals and one assist in eight La Liga games this season. AccuScore gives Karim Benzema a 54.72 percent chance to score against Villarreal. He has 35 SCA and 1 GCA in eight La Liga games this season.

FBRef defines SCA as “the two offensive actions leading directly to a shot, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls.” GCA is “the two offensive actions leading directly to a goal, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls.” Let’s take a closer look at where the value is at in this matchup.

DafaNews Picks

Team to Win (Regular Time)
• Villarreal 3.25
• Real Madrid 2.09
• Draw: 3.80

Spread
• Villarreal 0, +0.5 (2.09)
• Real Madrid 0, -0.5 (1.84)

Total
• Over 3 (2.00)
• Under 3 (1.90)

Key Points to Consider

Head-to-Head: These two sides last matched up in La Liga action on February 12 and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Projected Leaders

For Villarreal, Gerard Moreno has a 28.08 percent chance to score. He averages 1.34 shots overall per sim, 0.83 shots on goal per and 0.33 goals per sim.

For Real Madrid, Karim Benzema has a 54.72 percent chance to net the ball. He averages 2.57 shots overall per sim, 1.47 shots on goal per and 0.78 goals per sim.

Analyst’s Pick

Real Madrid 2.09

Four-star (out of four) AccuScore hot trend pick on Real Madrid in this one. Average score in simulations is Real Madrid 2.01 to Villarreal 0.91.