Out-of-sorts Villarreal will be desperate to put an end to a nine-match winless run in midweek, but this is clearly not the right time to be facing the La Liga holders.

Atletico Madrid recovered well from the Champions League exit to hammer Elche and now plan to cement the third place with a triumph at El Madrigal.

Villarreal successfully competed on three fronts for large periods of the current season, but the hectic schedule eventually took the wind out of their sails.

As a result, the Yellow Submarine crashed out of Europa League and Copa del Rey, while they also experienced plenty of problems in La Liga.

Villarreal are now going through a very rough patch, having failed to win any of their last nine matches in all competitions, but that is only the beginning of their problems.

Coach Marcelino Garcia Toral has a number of key men unavailable through injury, so there appears to be no value in odds of 3.60 (13/5) offered on home win.

Villarreal did show some improvement in the last couple of games, but they have now scored just one goal in last seven league fixtures, and no doubt the confidence is very low at the moment.

The good news is that Eric Bailly returns from suspension, but Vieto, Soriano, Musacchio, Cheryshev, Uche, Marin and Gio dos Santos miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Asenjo – Mario, Bailly, Ruiz, Costa – J. dos Santos, Pina, Trigueros, Gomez – Campbell, Moreno.

It has been clear for a while that Atletico Madrid will not be able to defend the league trophy, so nobody was surprised to see Diego Simeone’s charges switch their focus to the Champions League.

Los Colchoneros did well to reach the quarter-finals and gave a very good account of themselves against local rivals Real Madrid, but eventually paid the price for Arda Turan’s red card and were eliminated from Europe.

All that’s left now is for Atletico to secure the third place in the standings and another Champions League qualification, which should not be a problem.

Following the impressive triumph over Elche, los Colchoneros sit four points clear of fourth-placed Valencia with five games to go and are now 2.30 (13/10) to see off struggling Villarreal.

Summer recruit Antoine Griezmann has been in red-hot form of late, bagging eight goals in last five league games, and he is 3.20 (11/5) to score anytime.

Diego Simeone welcomed back Guilherme Siqueira from an ankle injury, with Mario Suarez the only player on the sidelines.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Oblak – Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Siqueira – Turan, Gabi, Tiago, Koke – Mandzukic, Griezmann.