Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal

Estadio Wanda Metropolitano forms the backdrop for Atletico Madrid’s high-profile La Liga clash against in-form Villarreal.

Alvaro Morata, who spent the last two seasons on loan at Juventus, returned to the base this summer to inspire Atletico Madrid to a comprehensive 3-0 win at Getafe on the opening matchday with a brace. Morata may need to save the day again, considering ‘Los Rojiblancos’ have won just two of their last eight La Liga matches against Villarreal at home (D4, L2). But Diego Simeone’s side can fall back on their eye-catching eight-game unbeaten league streak against this opposition (W3, D5), their longest such run in the competition’s history. Moreover, they’ve not lost any of their opening two La Liga outings of a new season in each top-flight campaign under Simeone. And if that’s not enough to give them confidence, Atletico are unbeaten in their last five league fixtures (W4, D1).

On the other hand, Villarreal head into proceedings on the back of a come-from-behind 4-2 home triumph over Hajduk Split in the Europa Conference League qualification playoffs. Following an underwhelming seventh-place finish last La Liga season, ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ opened the new league campaign with an impressive 3-0 away win over newly-promoted Real Valladolid, making it three consecutive La Liga victories on the road. Another success in Madrid would see Villarreal put together four straight top-flight triumphs on hostile turf for the first time since July 2020. What’s more, Unai Emery’s men have only lost one of their last seven league visits to sides from the Madrid region (W3, D3).