Luka Modric and co return to La Liga action again this Thursday as they take on Valencia at their temporary home stadium Alfredo di Stefano stadium in Madrid.
The hosts head into the tie fresh from an impressive 3:1 win over Eibar last time and will be looking to pick up all three points here and keep their title hopes alive.
Zidane’s men who welcomed back attackers Asensio and Eden Hazard will be feeling good going into this tie as they brushed past their most recent opponent in a first half master class.
Valencia meanwhile head into this tie, still nursing European ambitions. With one win in five games, the visitors will be hoping to dust off rustiness and pick up a win here. Their aim remains a place in Europe next season, so any more drop in points will see them lose their place to granda or Villarreal who are closing chasing.
Team News
Summer signing Luca Jovic and defender Nacho Fernandez are the only injury absentees for Zidane.
Albert Celades has Ezequiel Garay still missing through injury while Gabriel Paulista and Cristiano Piccini are also not available for this tie.
Head to head
Real Madrid have won three of the last five meetings between both sides with Valencia winning one and the other ending in a draw.
Team Form
Real Madrid last five games in all competitions: WLWLL
Valencia last five games in all competitions: DLDWL
Betting Preview
Real Madrid are favorites for this game as they sit in second place with 59 points from 28 games. Los Blancos hold the League’s best defensive record this season, having conceded 20 times in 28 games.
They have also kept the most clean sheets this season and concede an average of 0.71 goals at home. However, their recent form has been a bit different, with both teams scoring in four of their last six games.
At home, Madrid remain unbeaten with ten wins, and four draws the making them the best home team in the League this season. Could this change as they are currently playing away from the Santiago Bernabeu remains to be seen?
Valencia meanwhile head into this tie, still looking for their first win in three games. They remain without a win in their last five away games in the League and are betting outsiders going into this tie.
Albert Celades’ side statistically perform badly on the road with just three away wins in the League this season (D3, L7). In those games, the visitors shipped in 27 goals—67% of their total goals. Defensively, only RCD Mallorca have conceded more goals than the visitors away from home this season.
Away from home, the visitors tend to perform badly in the opening period with only two first-half wins away from home in 13 games (D4, L7), meaning that they have taken only ten points from the first half of games.
Interestingly, though, they can grind out results after conceding first as they have picked up points in seven of the 12 league games they conceded first (W2, D5, L5).
Suggested Bets
Over 3.5 goals @ 7/5
Real Madrid to win @ 2/5
Real Madrid to win both halves @ 11/10
