La Liga
Levante vs Real Madrid Preview
Levante welcome Real Madrid to the Estadi Ciutat de València as they seek to jump into the top 10 of the La Liga table. Although Paco Lopez’ men have three wins out of their previous 10 matches, they have some bite in them.
Fore example, one of those three wins includes a home win against current champions Barcelona, albeit in the Copa del Rey.
Meanwhile, the visitors come to Valencia eager to grab a win. Los Blancos suffered a shock defeat to minnows Girona a week ago at a time when they desperately need points.
At the moment, Madrid are nine points off the top of the table with fourteen match-days remaining. Kick-off will be Sunday at 2:45 pm EST.
Team News
Sergio Postigo continues to be unavailable for the home side with a calf injury. However, he will be the only player out since fellow defender Erick Cabaco returns from suspension with the Uruguayan accumulating too many yellow cards.
Similarly, Real Madrid are without only one player to injury. Namely midfielder Marcos Llorente. At the same time, they will be without captain Sergio Ramos after the defender’s red card last match.
Nacho Fernandez will fill in for Ramos while out-of-favor midfielder Isco will hope to grab some minutes after recovering from a back issue.
Lineups and Prediction
Levante: Aitor; Coke, Vezo, Cabaco; Simon, Rochina, Campana, Bardhi, Luna; Marti, Morales
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Nacho, Varane, Reguilon; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Vinicius, Benzema, Lucas
It’s impossible to talk about this match without mentioning the fact that it precedes two back-to-back Clasicos. Both of which will be hosted by Madrid. At the moment, Solari’s men are in week three of a series of season-defining high profile matches. Ironically, it’s the low profile match versus Girona where they have suffered defeat.
As the team’s preparations for the upcoming clashes against their bitter rivals is likely to affect this match, perhaps Levante will feel they also have a chance to inflict defeat on the La Liga giants. Furthermore, Lopez’ squad already defeated their guests in the reverse fixture last October in the Spanish capital.
As a matter of fact, Madrid have not enjoyed a victory over their hosts since 2016. Due to the circumstances surrounding this clash and the recent trend, perhaps a draw is the most likely result for this crucial La Liga fixture.
Levante 2 – 2 Real Madrid
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Photo credit to Real Madrid via Flickr
