The derby of Catalonia between Espanyol and Barcelona on Sunday attracted the attention of 24 rounds of La Liga. However, there are many other interesting matches, and the one between Villarreal and Real Madrid is even more important for the distribution of the first places in the standings. The hosts are in the temporary sixth position, but are aiming for the top four, while the goal in front of the guests is clear - the title.

Villarreal has amassed a significant point asset since December and is making excellent use of the losing streak for Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid. The "Yellow Submarine" was in an excellent series of four consecutive victories, which was interrupted by a draw with Atletico Madrid, and then defeat by Elche. However, Villarreal responded in an excellent way to these two unsatisfactory results with convincing victories to zero over Mallorca and Betis.

Before the start of the round, Real Madrid has a six-point lead over second in Sevilla. The White Ballet has not been convincing since the beginning of the year, although it retains the lead in La Liga and won the Spanish Super Cup. However, he was allowed to drop out of the King's Cup, and in the last two championship matches he was not convincing at all. Elche first scored two goals at the Santiago Bernabeu and left with a point, and then Granada was beaten by Asensio's only goal in the 74th minute.

In September, both teams ended in a draw in Madrid, and this result was quite surprising given that there were goals in both gates in the previous seven games of the rivalry. Villarreal is without a win against the Madrid giants from 2018, but today it is the bookmakers' favorite for ultimate success.

Benzema is having a phenomenal season, and his partnership with Vinicius is at a very high level. However, when the Frenchman is not on the field, then it becomes difficult for Real Madrid to attack. The good news is that Ancelotti has significantly improved his team's defensive performance, especially in situations where hitting the opponent's goal is expected to be a serious challenge. Benzema is still injured, and two teams come on the field, allowing no more than 1.0 goals per game on average. Purely statistically, the season in La Liga is not very productive and today I think we have minutes of overtime and a small number of goals.