Real Madrid will be aiming to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they welcome high-flying Villarreal to Bernabeu on Saturday night for an intriguing affair.
Los Blancos are currently second in the La Liga table, boasting 18 points from their opening seven league matches of the season, while Villarreal are third, picking up 16 points from their first seven fixtures of 2025-26.
Match preview
Real Madrid posted six straight wins over Osasuna, Real Oviedo, Mallorca, Real Sociedad, Espanyol and Levante in their opening six La Liga matches of the season, but they were shocked by Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby last weekend, suffering a 5-2 defeat to their city rivals.
Los Blancos have since relinquished control of first spot in the table to Barcelona, but Xabi Alonso's side are only one point off the summit, and it has still been a successful start to the campaign.
Real Madrid have also managed to post two wins in the league phase of the Champions League, beating Marseille and Kairat, with six points leaving them second in the overall table at this stage of proceedings.
Los Blancos will be back in La Liga action after the October international break away to Getafe, before the small matter of a home Champions League fixture with Juventus on October 22.
Real Madrid won both league games against Villarreal last season, including a 2-0 success at Bernabeu, but they did suffer a 3-2 home loss to the Yellow Submarine during the 2022-23 campaign.
Villarreal head coach Marcelino on September 20, 2025
Villarreal, meanwhile, were also in Champions League action on Wednesday, playing out a 2-2 draw with Juventus on home soil, and Marcelino's side now have one point from their two games in this season's competition.
The Yellow Submarine have a record of five wins, one draw and one defeat in La Liga, meanwhile, with 16 points leaving them in third spot in the table, two points off second-placed Real Madrid and three from the leaders Barcelona.
Villarreal are on a three-game winning run in the league, beating Osasuna, Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao, while their only domestic defeat of the campaign came away to Atletico Madrid after the September international break.
Marcelino's side finished fifth in La Liga last season, but with Athletic Bilbao wobbling early on, the Yellow Submarine will fancy their chances of claiming a top-four spot come the end of the campaign.
Villarreal have incredibly only won six of their previous 53 matches against Real Madrid, which is staggering considering their quality, but they have only lost three of their last eight league games with Los Blancos.
Real Madrid La Liga form:
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Real Madrid form (all competitions):
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Villarreal La Liga form:
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Villarreal form (all competitions):
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Team News
Trent Alexander-Arnold of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League match on September 16, 2025
Real Madrid will again be without the services of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy and Antonio Rudiger on Saturday, but Eder Militao should overcome an ankle issue to return to the side.
Alonso is set to make changes to his starting side for this match, and there could be a switch to a back three due to the team's issues at the back, with Aurelien Tchouameni possibly dropping into that spot.
Jude Bellingham is in line to start, while the same can also be said for Eduardo Camavinga, with Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior potentially operating as the front two in a 3-4-1-2 formation on Saturday.
Federico Valverde is also in line for a start amid the speculation surrounding his future.
As for Villarreal, Logan Costa, Willy Kambwala, Juan Foyth and Pau Cabanes are definitely out through injury, while Ayoze Perez and Gerard Moreno are major doubts for the Yellow Submarine.
Georges Mikautadze is set to continue in the final third of the field, and he is likely to be joined by Nicolas Pepe if Perez is unable to prove his fitness for the league contest at Bernabeu.
There will be changes from the side that took to the field against Juventus, with Luiz Junior set to return in goal, while Sergi Cardona, Thomas Partey, Alberto Moleiro and Ilias Akhomach could also be introduced.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Militao, Huijsen, Tchouameni; Valverde, Guler, Camavinga, Carreras; Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Junior; Mourino, Veiga, Marin, S Cardona; Akhomach, Partey, Gueye, Moleiro; Mikautadze, Pepe
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We say: Real Madrid 2-1 Villarreal
This could be an incredibly tricky match for Real Madrid, as Villarreal have proven themselves to be a class outfit. It would not be a shock to see the points shared on Saturday, but we just have a feeling that Los Blancos will be able to navigate their way to an important three points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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