Real Madrid will welcome Villarreal at Alfredo di Stéfano on Saturday afternoon as they look to earn maximum points at home and pip Atletico Madrid to the top of the La Liga table. Los Blancos managed to secure a 1-0 victory over Athletic Club Bilbao last weekend which will keep them in high spirits ahead of the final game of their league campaign.
Zinedine Zidane will set his team up in a 4-3-3 formation and is expected to name the same team that started in the win over Bilbao. Toni Kroos will miss the remainder of this season after testing positive for COVID-19, so Federico Valverde will be a guaranteed starter in Zidane’s midfield.
4-3-3 Real Madrid Predicted Lineup To Face Villarreal
Defence
Thibaut Courtois will function in between the sticks for Los Blancos after keeping a clean sheet in his last league outing. Nacho will operate alongside Eder Militao at the heart of the Madrid backline as they try to keep the opposition attackers at bay this weekend.
Zidane will be sweating on the fitness of Raphael Varane who is a significant concern for this game as he continues to recover from an abductor injury.
Miguel Gutiérrez will continue to feature as the left-back in the injury absence of Ferland Mendy. Alvaro Odriozola will once again get the nod to operate as the right-back. Zidane will give both of his full-backs the license to get forward and express themselves in the final third.
Midfield
Luka Modric, Casemiro and Federico Valverde will make up the Real Madrid midfield as they focus on establishing their superiority over the Yellow Submarine at the centre of the park. Kroos will continue to quarantine which means that Isco will have to offer cover for the midfield positions on the bench.
Attack
Vinicius Junior will feature down the left-wing while Rodrygo looks to catch the eye by putting in a productive performance as the right-sided wide player. Karim Benzema will once again lead the line for Los Blancos down the middle. The French striker failed to find the back of the net against Bilbao, so he would be desperate to return to goal-scoring ways versus Unai Emery’s men on Saturday.
Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard will be available for selection on the bench as they await their chance to feature in the second half if required.
