Real Madrid at Villarreal 1/3/19 - La Liga Picks & Predictions

Real Madrid will return to competitive matches on Thursday when they will be hosted by Villarreal for the 17th round of the La Liga. Villarreal were in mediocre shape before the mini-winter break, while Real Madrid were in great shape and even won the FIFA Club World Cup in that span.

Villarreal (3-7-6) are having a really bad season in the La Liga so far but they have been doing great in other competitions. In their last match they played for a 2-2 draw on the road against Huesca, in a match where they were equalized at the stoppage time. Villarreal have moved to the knock-out round of the Europa League though, and the additional matches have put on some extra fatigue on the players. Villarreal are now sitting at the 18th spot of the La Liga with 15 points, one point below the relegation zone. Real Madrid (9-5-2) recorded a really slim 0-1 home win against Rayo Vallecano in their last league match before the winter break. Prior to that they fell at home against CSKA Moscow by 3-0 in a Champions League match that didn’t actually hurt them as they still finished at the top. Moreover, Real Madrid captured the FIFA Club World Cup with wins over Kashima and Al Ain. As far as the La Liga is concerned, Real Madrid are now sitting 4th in the La Liga with 29 points, still eight behind Barcelona.