Villareal host Atletico Madrid in La Liga
It will be a meeting of two teams in the top five in La Liga as second place Villareal hosts fifth place Atletico Madrid at the Camp El Madrigal on Sunday October 24.
Recent form
Villareal currently sits a single point back of league leaders Real Madrid and, although they are tied on 16 points with Barcelona and Valencia, they claim second spot with a better goal differential.
Villareal has been sharp in front of goal, scoring 14 times, with only Madrid scoring more often. Last weekend Villareal had to settle for a 2-2 draw against newly promoted Hercules who continues to surprise many of the Spanish League's top teams.
Villareal narrowly won their midweek Europa League match against PAOK FC of Greece by a score of 1-0 and the win leaves them atop their group with six points after three matches.
Defending Europa League champions Atletico Madrid are coming off a huge 3-0 victory over Rosenborg to finally get their first Europa League win of the season. They currently sit in second place in their group tied on points with Aris Thessaloniki FC of Greece,
and are one point behind group leaders Bayer Leverkusen of Germany.
Atletico currently sit four points back of the league leaders, but their two losses in La Liga came against stiff competition in the likes of Barcelona and Sevilla. Atletico Madrid has been solid against most teams in Spain and even managed a tough 1-1 draw
against Valencia. Villareal is another in a string of tough early tests for Atletico.
Players to watch
In his first Europa League game of the season, Argentine striker Sergio Aguero notched a goal coming into replace Diego Forlan. Atletico had been eagerly awaiting his return from injury and he should give the side a real boost. The South American drew real
praise from his manager, Enrique Sanchez Flores, who
told Europa Press, "It is the Aguero we expected. The good news is that he has returned and has given us an extra gear going forward."
Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan is the heart and soul of the team, but he has been out of form lately and hasn't scored since September 11. Brazilian Diego Da Silva Costa, and the Portuguese Simao
Pedro Fonseca Sabrosa, have stepped up with their scoring while Forlan has struggled.
The Villareal striking partnership of Nilmar Honorato da Silva
and Giuseppe Rossi have combined for nine of Villareal's 14 league goals so far this season. Villareal was without midfielder Carlos Marchena and Marcos Senna in midweek, both should be back in the line-up joining captain Santiago Cazorla.
What to expect
Last season Villareal won both meetings against Atletico Madrid by a score of 2-1. Villareal qualified for Europe last season by finishing seventh, but needed help doing so when Mallorca forfeited their spot, but they are a different side this year
and their positive start should be seen as no real surprise.
Villareal are a team with real depth and, although Atletico will be filled with confidence after their win in midweek, Villareal should have enough weapons to not only control what goes through the midfield, but to get the goals as well.
Villareal win as they did last season 2-1.
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