Football Bet of the Day: Blancos to bounce back

• Real Madrid motivated after Super Cup defeat

• Villarreal without key players

Villarreal v Real Madrid
Thursday 19 January, 20:00

We have to start by talking about Alan Pardew's Aris, I'm afraid, because the former West Ham boss saw his Greek side downed 1-0 at Olympiakos in the Greek Cup. That netted us our second winner of the week.

We'll stay with the cups, because there's a blue-chip clash at the Ceramica, as Villarreal face Real Madrid. The Yellow Submarine recently beat the Spanish champions in La Liga, but I think this will be a different story.

Villarreal are on a decent run under new coach Quique Setien, who filled the void left by Aston Villa-bound boss Unai Emery. However, they will be without some key players for this game. Alfonso Pedraza, Giovanni Lo Celso and Nicolas Jackson are all expected to miss out, while Arnaut Danjuma in is the midst of trying to arrange a move to the Premier League. Juan Foyth and Gerard Moreno are also thought to be carrying knocks.

Real Madrid came back from Saudi Arabia with their tails between their legs, having been soundly beaten 3-1 by old foes Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Don't underestimate how motivating that sting will be, and Carlo Ancelotti will surely select a decent side for this.

Although Real have suffered a post-World Cup slump, they have still won seven of nine on the road in La Liga. Against a depleted Villarreal, I think Real will come out fighting, and Spanish media expect them to field a strong starting XI that includes Thibault Courtois, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.

I'll use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back Real Madrid to qualify and Over 1.5 Goals at 1.981/1. 12 of Villarreal's last 14 games have featured at least two goals, as have 13 of Real's last 14.