There were questions if Madrid keeper Courtois is fit to play, but latest news confirm that he is ok and will start, so the only regular starter missing from Real Madrid side is defender Carvajal.

At Villarreal the keeper Rulli is about to leave the club and Pepe Reina will at least temporarily start between the sticks, the only other remarkable absentee is Lo Celso.

In the recent history this match makes an interesting reading:

This is not my favourite piece of statistics as teams, players and coaches change, but Real Madrid has been the favourite in each of these matches, and still have drawn last 5 in a row. The first encounter in September in Madrid also ended in a 0-0, but then Villarreal keeper Rulli was the man of the match and Benzema was not playing.

Both won their first matches after the break. Villarreal hosted Valencia at their renewed stadion - they are back home again! - and Real Madrid needed two late goals from Benzema to beat the stubborn Valladolid side.

Both were in it also in the cup. Madrid won away at lower league Cacereno after a dismal performance by 0-1, Villarreal won 1-5 vs a lot stronger lower league team Cartagena by 1-5. There was naturally a lot of rotation at both camps, but the remarkable news for Villarreal is that Gerard Moreno is back to fitness, he is equally important attacking piece as Benzema to Real Madrid!

Missing Carvajal does not sound like a big deal as he can be replaced by Lucas Vazquez or even Militao, but it does shake the balance a bit.

With the boost of new stadion, return of Gerard Moreno, the time given to the new coach and the basic class of Villarreal I see this as another even game, where Villarreal can even win if they can keep Vinicius and Benzema in control for the full 90 minutes, and if they score the first goal of the game I am not the slightly surprised.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

有人质疑皇马门将库尔图瓦是否适合比赛，但最新消息证实他状况良好，并将首发，所以皇马唯一缺席的常规首发球员是后卫卡瓦哈尔。

在比利亚雷亚尔，门将鲁利即将离开俱乐部，佩佩·雷纳将至少暂时首发，另外一个值得注意的缺阵球员是洛·塞尔索。

在近代史上，这场比赛有一个有趣的解读:

这不是我最喜欢的统计数据，因为球队、球员和教练都在变化，但皇马在每一场比赛中都是最受欢迎的，并且仍然连续5场平局。9月在马德里的第一次交锋也以0-0结束，但当时比利亚雷亚尔门将鲁利是本场比赛的最佳球员，本泽马没有上场。

两人都赢得了休息后的首场比赛。比利亚雷亚尔主场迎战瓦伦西亚，他们又回到了家乡!皇马需要本泽马在最后时刻的两粒进球才能击败这支顽固的巴利亚多利德球队。

二人都在里面，也都在杯里。马德里客场以0-1击败低级别联赛的卡塞雷诺，比利亚雷亚尔以1-5击败更强的低级别联赛球队卡塔赫纳。两个阵营自然都有很多轮换，但对比利亚雷亚尔来说，值得注意的消息是杰拉德·莫雷诺已经恢复健康，他是和本泽马一样重要的进攻球员!

失去卡瓦哈尔听起来并不是什么大问题，因为他可以被卢卡斯·巴斯克斯甚至米利多取代，但这确实会动摇平衡。

随着新球场的崛起，杰拉德·莫雷诺的回归，新教练的时间和比利亚雷亚尔的基本阵容，我认为这是另一场势均力敌的比赛，比利亚雷亚尔甚至可以赢得比赛，如果他们能让维尼修斯和本泽马在90分钟内控制住比赛，如果他们打进了比赛的第一个进球，我并不感到有点惊讶。

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