Real Madrid will be looking to take all three points when they visit the Estadio El Madrigal to take on Villareal.
All the talk has been about world record signing Gareth Bale as we head into this crucial La Liga encounter. Real will be looking to put one over Barcelona come the end of the season after such lavish spending this summer.
The signings of Gareth Bale, Asier Illarramendi, Dani Carvajal, and Isco sends out a strong signal of intent from Madrid president Florentino Perez.
However, the sale of fan favourite Mesut Ozil to Arsenal has not gone down well with the fans, who are also left questioning the decision to start Diego Lopez over club legend Iker Casillas.
The atmosphere does not look to be too good in the squad as it emerged that Gareth Bale was at the receiving end of several dangerous challenges from star man Cristiano Ronaldo while teammates Pepe and Karim Benzema looked on with a smile on their faces.
Bale faces a massive battle against the former Manchester United marksman who is more than determined to assert his numero uno status at Real Madrid.
When the team sheet does come out for Sunday night, it is widely expected that Bale will start on the right with Ronaldo keeping his spot on the left wing.
Benzema will start up front with Isco behind him. The Spanish international has been earning the plaudits following his move from Malaga and has thus far racked up 3 assists in a couple of games.
Luka Modric should start at the middle of the park and will have Illarramendi or Sami Khedira for company. Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, and Marcelo are coach Carlo Ancelottiās preferred back four and should start at the back for Madrid.
Villareal should have their task cut out and Sergio Asenjo, the ākeeper who is on loan from Madridās cross town rivals Atletico, should see a lot of action in his box.
Defender Musacchio will have to marshal his troops immaculately if the yellow submarine are to come out of this encounter unscathed.
Villarealās best approach to the game would be to defend as a unit and look to attack on the counter as there are just too many quality players who will turn out for Real and man-marking them will not yield results as so many teams in the La Liga have found out over the years.