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Tough home game for Real Madrid against a Villarreal side who have not lost a single game this Liga season so far. Casemiro and Luka Modric will not be available as Zidane will keep rotating the squad to keep his players fresh. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are back after missing Sunday's match against Espanyol.
Real Madrid projected XI: Casilla, Danilo, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo, Kroos, Kovacic, James, Bale, Ronaldo, Morata.
Villarreal projected XI: Asenjo, Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Costa, Santos, Trigueros, Bruno, Cheryshev, Borré, Sansone.
Villarreal are quite thin upfront, with key strikers Bakambú and Roberto Soldado injured. Denis Cheryshev will make his return to the Santiago Bernabeu today after his disappointing 2015/2016 season, when he was not a relevant player before being sent to Valencia on a loan deal.
Kovacic and James will most likely play in the midfield alongside Toni Kroos, who will play deep replacing Casemiro. Isco could be competing with James for a starting spot, but the Colombian playmaker has been a key contributor this season and possibly earned the spot.