Real Madrid will aim to maintain their lead at the La Liga summit when they welcome Villarreal to the Bernabeu on Saturday.
Los Blancos find themselves two points clear of second-place Atletico Madrid, having picked up five wins and a draw from their opening six games.
😉 Still true today. https://t.co/YREQFa7fjQ— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 23, 2021
😉 Still true today. https://t.co/YREQFa7fjQ
Although eleventh-place Villarreal are also unbeaten this season, they have only managed to secure one win and four draws – leaving them nine points behind Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men head into Saturday’s clash on the back of a dominant 6-1 victory over Mallorca in midweek.
They have now netted a whopping 21 goals in six league games this term (3.5 goals per game), meaning they are the highest scorers in La Liga by some distance.
Karim Benzema (8 goals, 7 assists) has been the star of the show so far, while Vinicius Junior (5 goals, 3 assists) has played a stellar supporting role.
Thanks to a solid end to the previous campaign, Los Blancos are currently enjoying an 11-match unbeaten streak in all competitions.
Villarreal, on the other hand, drew their opening four La Liga outings this season – tying with Granada, Espanyol, Atletico and Mallorca.
The Yellow Submarine finally got their first win of the campaign on the board on Wednesday, thrashing Elche 4-1.
Unai Emery’s men enjoyed 60% possession against Elche, with Yeremi Pino, Manu Trigueros, Arnaut Danjuma and Alberto Moreno grabbing the goals.
Villarreal also sealed a 2-2 draw with Atalanta in the Champions League last weekend, meaning they remain unbeaten in all competitions this season.
Head-to-head: Villarreal's last win over Real Madrid came back in 2018. Since then, Los Blancos have claimed three wins in this fixture, with four draws coming along the way.
It is also worth noting that seven of their previous nine meetings have produced over 2.5 goals, with five of those dishing up over 3.5 goals.
Team news: Real Madrid have a number of injury concerns at the moment, with Gareth Bale, Dani Ceballos, Toni Kroos, Ferland Mendy, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal on the sidelines.
As for Villarreal, they will be without Nigerian forward Samuel Chukwueze for Saturday's trip to the Bernabeu.
Although Villarreal have started the season in decent form, there is no denying that Real Madrid should claim an easy win and extend their unbeaten streak on Saturday.
Forebet predicts that Los Blancos will score over 2.5 goals en route to dispatching Villarreal.