La Liga: Atleti and Villarreal in First Top Four Clash

Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal

The La Liga match of the weekend takes place at the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday when pacesetters Atletico Madrid and Villarreal are set to do battle.

Okay, we’re only one week into the new season and we need a few more La Liga 2022 results to roll in before we can see the league table take shape. But Los Rojiblancos and the Yellow Submarine, who enter Round Two at the top of the league table, will both expect to be in or around the top four places in May 2023.          

Diego Simeone is entering his 11^th season as boss of Atletico and his style has matched the club perfectly during that time, winning the title in 2021. But last season, his team struggled to keep pace with Real Madrid and Barcelona, finishing 15 points behind Los Blancos, and they will do all they can to hang on to the El Clasico pair throughout the campaign.       

Meanwhile, Unai Emery’s Villarreal have shown they can live with Europe’s finest, reaching the 2022 Champions League semi-final with a victory over FC Bayern on the way. But they finished seventh in the league which means they will take part in the 2022/23 Europa Conference League.

Emery is a European specialist, leading the Yellow Submarine to Europa success in 2021 and he will take the competition seriously while setting his sights firmly on a top four finish in La Liga.  

Both team started the campaign with 3-0 away wins, Atleti against Getafe and Villarreal on a visit to Real Valladolid and they come into the game in good shape.  

Talking Points

Morata makes his mark

The current La Liga 2022 betting odds place Los Rojiblancos as clear third favourites to win the 2022/23 title at a price of 5.50 behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. And if they carry on as they started last week, it could be an exciting campaign for Atleti fans.   

The impressive Alvaro Morata scored twice against Getafe and Antoine Griezmann bagged the third with a crisp finish after latching on to a superb through ball from Joao Felix.

Morata showed what a good striker he can be, taking a pass from Felix and firing in a low shot into the bottom corner from just outside the penalty area for his first, and smashing his second high into the top left corner after more good work from Felix.   

Simeone fighting off interest for his biggest stars

While things have been going well for Los Rojiblancos on the pitch, the boss is dealing with some unwanted attention for two of his best players.

After Joao Felix made a hat-trick of assists in the opener, Atletico have mocked reports that Manchester United were ready to make a £110-M move for the young Portuguese star.

Simeone has labelled Felix as priceless and the Red Devils have rowed back, saying they have not yet made an offer. But Atleti will be delighted when the transfer window shuts.

There may be a bigger risk of Atletico losing midfield star Marcos Llorente after Premier League giants Chelsea were reported to have tabled a £40-M bid for the Spain star. He has played 122 times for Los Rojiblancos and featured for an hour in their win over Getafe and is clearly part of Simeone’s plans.

Villarreal’s blend of youth and experience can go far  

While Atleti are ranked third in the list of La Liga title hopefuls, the Yellow Submarine is the fourth favourite at a SBOTOP price of 23.00 and ahead of Sevilla, the team which has pushed the big three the closest in recent campaigns.

Emery has a nice blend of young players and more experienced campaigners in his side. Two 21-year-olds were on the score sheet in Villarreal’s opener as Alex Baena with a brace and Nicolas Jackson with the opener blew Valladolid away.

The Yellow Submarines brightest young star, 19-year-old Yeremy Pino, is still at the club despite growing interest from a number of sources, including Emery’s ex-employers at Arsenal.

Alongside Pino, the 30-year-old Gerard Moreno remains a lethal goal scorer with 58 strikes in his 121 appearances for the club.  

While Emery has blooded some exciting young stars in his creative positions, he has an established centre-back pairing to keep things tight at the other end of the pitch.

36-year-old skipper Raul Albiol and 25-year-old Pau Torres form one of the best pairings in European football, and Morata and Griezmann will not find it so easy on Sunday.  

History

The Yellow Submarine has enjoyed considerable success in this fixture, edging Atleti by 15 wins to 14, while there have been 13 draws between the two sides over the past 42 games.

Recent form is comparable too as Atleti have won their last six while Villarreal have won five and drawn the other, and both were enjoying a strong pre-season before winning handsomely on the opening day of the campaign.  

Betting Tip

Both Atletico Madrid at 1.90 and Villarreal at 3.73 will be targeting another three points on Sunday, but I expect a tight match and these two top class teams may well cancel each other out.   

For an alternative bet, 2-3 goals is priced at 1.85, while a 1-1 draw at 5.60 is the most likely outcome.   

 

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