How Real Madrid could line up against Villarreal

Real Madrid will be looking to bounce back from their heavy loss to Valencia before the international break when they travel to high-flying Villarreal on Saturday afternoon.

Zinedine Zidane's side, who are currently fourth in La Liga, suffered a 4-1 defeat to Los Che in their last fixture and have now dropped four points off the pace being set by Real Sociedad at the summit.

Madrid will be determined to return to winning ways this weekend, but they are expected to face a tough examination by a Villarreal side currently second in the table.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Los Blancos could line up against the Yellow Submarine.

Out: Federico Valverde (shin), Luka Jovic (coronavirus) Doubtful: Eder Militao (coronavirus), Eden Hazard (coronavirus), Casemiro (coronavirus), Sergio Ramos (hamstring), Raphael Varane (shoulder), Karim Benzema (groin)

> Click here for Real Madrid's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Madrid have received some excellent news on the coronavirus front ahead of the match, with Casemiro, Eder Militao and Eden Hazard all now testing negative for the virus after periods of isolation.

In theory, all three should be available this weekend, although Casemiro is ahead of Militao and Hazard in terms of preparation, with the Brazil international returning to training on Wednesday.

Sergio Ramos is set to miss out with the hamstring problem that he picked up while representing Spain in the UEFA Nations League, but there is hope that Raphael Varane can shake off the shoulder issue that he suffered during the international break with France.

Varane could be joined by fit-again Nacho in the middle of the defence, while Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Odriozola are now available following periods on the sidelines.

Federico Valverde is definitely out with a small shin fracture, but Karim Benzema is expected to be involved despite suffering a groin injury during the clash with Valencia before the international break.

Luka Modric and Toni Kroos could join Casemiro in midfield despite Martin Odegaard's return to fitness, while Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior are set for starts in the final third of the field.