Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid
Spanish La Liga
Date: Saturday, 20 October 2018
Kick-Off at 17:30 UK / 18:30 CET
Venue: Estadio de la Ceramica (Villarreal).
The Yellow Submarine are coming off a 3-1 defeat to Espanyol in their previous outing in the league. Cameroon striker Karl Toko-Ekambi got the only goal in another disappointing performance for Javier Calleja's team.
The Valencia based club are having a torrid campaign this season having claimed just two wins in eight matches. They have suffered four defeats in that run and are currently sitting 16th on the table with eight points.
Villarreal have struggled in attack this season having scored just six goals in eight La Liga matches. Strikers Carlos Bacca, Gerard Moreno and Toko-Ekambi have all been poor with a combined four goals to their names so far.
Club Atletico de Madrid
Los Colchoneros travel to Villarreal off the back of a 1-0 victory over Real Betis in their previous outing in the league. It was a typically tight defensive display from Diego Simeones men as they held off the visitors before Angel Correa sealed the win with a 74th minute strike.
As always, Atletico Madrid have built their season on a solid defensive foundation as they have the meanest backline in the league. They have conceded just four goals so far and are currently third on the table with 15 points, one behind league leaders Sevilla.
Atletico will continue to be without Diego Costa and Jose Gimenez, both of whom are still sidelined with injury. Diego Godin and Lucas Hernandez should continue their partnership in central defence while Antoine Griezmann should retain his place in attack.
Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid: Head-to-head
Villarreal have a positive head to head record against the Mattressers.
The Yellow Submarine won 15, drew 8 and lost 11 of 34 encounters against Atletico Madrid.
Villarreal were indeed a very tricky opposition to Atletico in most recent years and they go into this undefeated in last six meetings with the Mattressers (four wins and two draws in the process).
Team news
Atletico Madrid should be boosted by the return of centre-back pairing Stefan Savic and Jose Maria Gimenez who have been training as normal this week. Diego Costa remains the only doubt for Diego Simeone.
Villarreal's Argentine midfielder Santi Caseres returned to training this week, although this game is likely to come too soon for the 21-year-old.
Preview
Atletico have improved after a disappointing start, yet like Villarreal they too are far from firing on all cylinders. Traveling to a ground where they have struggled in the past, this could be another test for Simeone's side who have won just one of their four away games this term.
This tends to be a low scoring fixture at the best of times with nine of the last 11 meetings seeing under 2.5 goals, and with neither side at their peak, we should expect another tight encounter.
Key Statistics
Villarreal have lost 3 of their last 5 home matches (La Liga).
Villarreal have seen Under 2.5 goals in 4 of their last 6 home matches (La Liga).
Atletico Madrid have won 4 of their last 7 matches (La Liga).
Atletico Madrid have seen Under 2.5 goals in 8 of their last 10 away matches (La Liga).