Villarreal vs Atl. Madrid prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-08-18 19:30.
[p]For the first time since 2019/20, Villarreal will begin a season knowing that they won’t have the distraction of European football to contend with after finishing a lowly eighth in La Liga last term. The Yellow Submarine’s poor campaign was a consequence of a particularly slow start that saw them win just one of their first seven home league matches (D1, L5), something they’ll be desperate to avoid a repeat of this time around.[/p]
[p]Unfortunately for their supporters, that’s not something that they’ll be too confident of witnessing here as they’ve won on the opening day just once in the previous nine campaigns (D5, L3). A failure to win any of the last six H2Hs against Atlético Madrid at the Estadio de la Cerámica (D4, L2) will only add to the trepidation in the Villarreal camp too, as will the loss of goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen and striker Alexander Sørloth in the summer transfer window.[/p]
[p]Sørloth finds himself in the opposition camp after signing for Atlético, part of a trio of key signings that is rounded out by Julián Álvarez and Robin Le Normand. Despite that, it’s not been plain sailing in the market for Diego Simeone’s side completely, as they remain tied up in a transfer saga with free-spending Chelsea surrounding the futures of both Conor Gallagher and João Félix.[/p]
[p]Simeone will want all his side’s focus on the pitch on Monday night as they look to correct an underwhelming season that saw them finish outside of La Liga’s top-three for the first time since 2011/12. Bridging the 19-point gap to last season’s champions and arch rivals Real Madrid would be the ultimate goal, and it’s on the road where they could do the majority of that work, as Atleti picked up just 27 points on their league travels last season – some 17 fewer than Real![/p]
[p]Players to watch: After his 2023/24 season was blighted by a serious knee injury, Yeremy Pino has had a full pre-season to bolster Villarreal’s attacking ranks. Each of his last four club goals have been his side’s opener, one of which came against Atletico in August 2022. Atleti’s Antoine Griezmann is usually front and centre of the action in this fixture, scoring as many times as he’s been booked (six) across 26 previous H2Hs (W10, D7, L9).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Both teams have scored in five of the last six H2Hs, with the home side on the day winning just once.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Ryan Fisher[/i][/p]