La Liga
Real Madrid vs Valencia Preview
‘Los Che’ come to the Spanish capital looking for a win that would see them leapfrog their opponents in the La Liga standings. Currently the visitors are on a two game winning streak in the league and sit in 11th place.
Real Madrid must win in front of their fans on Saturday. The Spanish giants lost 3-0 to Eibar in their last league fixture and can’t afford to drop more points. At the moment, they sit in 6th place, 6 points behind leaders Sevilla.
Team News
Madrid Manager Santiago Solari is only without two players due to injury. Midfielder Casemiro and defender Nacho remain on the sidelines. Elsewhere, midfielder Isco may be left out after an apparent falling out with the coach.
Despite only having played 11 minutes in the league this season, midfielder Marcos Llorente is expected to start. The 23 year old impressed in Casemiro’s position against Roma mid-week. Helping his team to an important 2-0 victory.
Likewise, Solari will probably play Lucas Vasquez in attack with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. Vasquez also got the start in Rome on Tuesday and repaid the faith of his Argentinian coach with a goal.
Valencia coach Marcelino will be happy to have defender Ezequiel Garay back. The former Madrid defender returns after missing two games to injury. However, star striker Rodrigo Moreno may be out with a muscle problem.
In the event that the Spanish number 9 does not recover in time, Santi Mina will serve as a lone striker in what would most likely be a more defensive lineup. Although visiting fans will encourage them to attack their hosts continually.
Lineups and Prediction
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric, Llorente; Lucas, Benzema, Bale
Valencia: Neto; Wass, Gabriel, Diakhaby, Gaya; Coquelin, Kondogbia, Parejo; Mina, Moreno, Guedes
Real Madrid may be the winner of the previous three meetings; and Valencia may be without a win in the Santiago Bernabeu since 2008. Nevertheless, the current situation for both clubs makes the outcome unpredictable.
Furthermore, the hosts are conceding just as much as they score domestically this year. Their visitors are also the third least scoring team in Spain at the moment. Evidently, a low scoring match is a very likely outcome.
Valencia will give the match their all as is their custom when in the capital city. Regardless, expect Solari’s use of Llorente as a security net to be the difference for the whites. As is usually the case when Casemiro does the same.
Marcelino’s men have shown themselves equal to the task when facing La Liga giants this year. However, a win at home is exactly what the doctor ordered for Madrid.
Real Madrid 2 – 1 Valencia
Photo credit to Real Madrid via Flickr
