Please, try again later
Real Madrid and Villarreal return early from Spain’s short winter break to face off this Thursday in the first La Liga match of 2019. The game was moved back due to Real’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup, a competition they won with relative ease in December. This though will be a bigger test as they look to claw their way back into title contention.
Los Blancos start the new year with an 8 point gap to make up on leaders Barcelona and this is their single game in hand. The jury remains out on Santiago Solari with his reign so far largely defined by Real Madrid winning matches without particularly playing well. Their most recent league games both produced 1-0 wins but they were against the bottom two teams in the Primera Division as Real made hard work of seeing off both Huesca and Rayo Vallecano.
For the third match in a row, they face a team in the relegation zone here with Villarreal enduring a torrid season so far. They sacked Javier Calleja and appointed Luis García as their new boss last month. The new man has at least had an extended period of nearly three weeks without a game to work with his side but his first game at the helm was a relatively unconvincing 2-2 draw with bottom club Huesca.
A record of 11 wins from 13 competitive outings under Solari is also impressive, with one of the games he didn’t win being a dead rubber in the Champions League. While they’ve not convinced, they have invariably found a way to see matches out and with the odds reasonable for once, backing Real Madrid to Win looks good here, especially given only Huesca have a worse home record this season in La Liga than Villarreal.
Real Madrid have had a difficult season and start the year in fourth place in La Liga. They are eight points behind the league leaders and this is their game in hand. Real are back in league action after another win in the World Club Championship. They've won their last three league games but the last two have been 1-0 wins over the bottom two teams in the table and now they face the other team in the bottom three. Three clean sheets is a bonus for them but they need to find some consistency away from home with three defeats in their last five in La Liga.
Villarreal only have two teams below them in the table and have only three league wins this season. Their last ten league games have only produced one win and that was a victory over Real Betis. That's their only home league win of the season with just six points from their eight home games. Goals have been a problem with only seven scored at home this season but four of those have come in the last two. Their most recent home game was a 3-2 defeat by Celta de Vigo who were 3-0 up inside 51 minutes. Real Madrid need three points from this game and should be able to get the win here.