Villarreal vs Real Madrid Prediction & Betting Tips - Copa del Rey

Prediction published on 17/01/2023, 13:00  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 17/01/2023 at 14:23 in Football Predictions

Copa del Rey Round of 16 will take place midweek, where Real Madrid will make the trip to La Ceramica to take on Villareal on Thursday night. After their 3-1 failure to rivals Barcelona in the final of the Supercopa de Espana last week, the current defending league champs will want to ensure that they do not bow out of their second cup in as many weeks to a Villareal side that has been in good form lately. Madrid is currently in second place in La Liga with 38 points in 16 games, three points behind leaders Barcelona and ten better than their opponents. Interestingly, aside from the league cup defeat, Madrid has only lost one other match in their last six in all competitions, which came at this destination less than two weeks ago. The visitors have not been knocked out at this stage of the Copa del Rey since the 2014/15 season, but they are likely going to find it tough in this one. 

The home side was on an incredible run of form on either side of the World Cup break, recording seven consecutive victories in all competitions. However, that run was brought to an end last week when they were held to a disappointing draw to 17th-placed Celta Vigo in their last match. Their strong recent form has seen Unai Emery's team work their way into Champions League contention, currently sitting in fifth place and level on points with Athletic Madrid in fourth. In recent times Villareal has made a good fist of their encounters against this opponent and has proven that they can hold their own against the giants of Spain. In their last five encounters, Villareal and Real Madrid share one win each, while the other three matches ended in draws. The hosts will keep in mind that their opponents have played five competitive matches in 17 days, and fatigue may be a factor. Domestic silverware has eluded The Yellow Submarine in recent seasons, but they will have a genuine belief that they can take it to Real Madrid and come away with a something in this match.