Preview: Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal - prediction, team news, lineups

Atletico Madrid will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they welcome Villarreal to the Wanda Metropolitano for Saturday's showdown.

The hosts were held to a 0-0 draw by Huesca in midweek, while Villarreal enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Alaves in their fourth game of the season.

Match preview

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After subjecting Granada to a 6-1 thrashing in their inaugural game of the 2020-21 campaign, Atletico fans could have been forgiven for expecting their side to continue in the same vein against newly-promoted Huesca on Wednesday evening.

However, Diego Simeone 's men could not find a way past the dogged Huesca outfit and were held to a goalless stalemate by their opponents amid the disrupted fixture schedule.

Nevertheless, Atletico are now gearing up for a return to familiar surroundings, where a brace from debutant Luis Suarez off the bench paved the way for a crushing victory over Granada last weekend.

Barcelona made a winning start to their season against Villarreal and Real Madrid have taken seven points from a possible nine thus far, so Simeone will be aware that Atletico cannot afford any early slip-ups in their bid to break into the top two and dethrone the reigning champions.

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Meanwhile, Villarreal managed to put their crushing defeat to Barca behind them as they enjoyed a straightforward victory over Alaves on Wednesday evening.

Paco Alcacer netted two goals either side of a Gerard Moreno penalty to propel the Yellow Submarine to their second win of the campaign, and Unai Emery 's side currently sit fourth at this early stage of the season.

Of course, rankings after only a few weeks of the season are never expected to foretell the final tale, but Villarreal will no doubt be aiming to cement their position in the Champions League places after finishing 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Sevilla in the 2019-20 campaign.

However, the Yellow Submarine are now coming up against an Atletico side whom they have not beaten since the 2017-18 campaign, with Atletico running out 3-1 winners in this fixture last season.

Atletico Madrid La Liga form: WD

Villarreal La Liga form: DWLW

Team News

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Jose Gimenez was being tipped to move to Manchester City before the Premier League side landed Ruben Dias from Benfica, and the Atletico defender is set to miss out again here following a positive coronavirus test.

Sime Vrsaljko is the only other absentee for Simeone, who otherwise has a clean bill of health for the visit of Villarreal.

Thomas Partey played the full 90 minutes against Huesca amid continued links with Arsenal, but Koke may be involved from the first whistle for this one, while Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco are both options for change out wide.

As for Villarreal, Emery is facing an injury crisis at left-back with Alberto Moreno, Alfonso Pedraza and Pervis Estupinan all at risk of missing out, although Jaume Costa will be available for the visitors.

Francis Coquelin is also sidelined for the next few weeks with a hamstring injury, meaning that Vicente Iborra and Manu Trigueros will battle it out to partner Dani Parejo in midfield.

Should Moreno and Alcacer both be deployed up top on Saturday, 19-year-old Takefusa Kubo or 21-year-old Samu Chukwueze are options on the right-hand side of Emery's midfield.

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Oblak; Tripper, Hermoso, Felipe, Lodi; Correa, Saul, Koke, Carrasco; Costa, Felix

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Asenjo; Gaspar, Albiol, Torres, Costa; Kubo, Parejo, Iborra, Gomez; Alcacer, Moreno

We say: Atletico Madrid 2-1 Villarreal

Both of these teams have formidable attacking power in their ranks and this should be an entertaining affair. However, we feel that Atletico will be too strong at home for Villarreal and are backing Simeone's side to get back to winning ways this weekend.

Top betting tip

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