Valencia vs Real Madrid Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Jan 02, 2016 @ 01:47 am

Next Sunday, 3rd of January 2016, Real Madrid will travel to Comunidad Valenciana to measure forces with Valencia at the emblematic Mestalla for Round 18 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

After their staggering 10-2 win over Rayo Vallecano before the Christmas break, Real Madrid extended their winning streak at Santiago Bernabéu, as they overcame Real Sociedad last Wednesday. It wasn’t by any means an easy win for Los Blancos and the referee, José Luis González González, was once again at the centre of attention. In the early moments of the match, the Ponferrada born referee ignored an hypothetical foul by Pepe over Jonathas inside Real Madrid’s box that could have led to a penalty kick. Nevertheless, during the first-half, he didn’t hesitate to concede Real Madrid two dubious penalty kicks, one of which allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to open the score, something that clearly infuriated Real Sociedad’s staff during and after the match.

Real Madrid didn’t have the best of times before the break, but they did manage to rally the troops and did good in the last 30 minutes of second-half. The young Portuguese winger Bruma put Real Sociedad back into the match right after the break, but the usual suspect Cristiano Ronaldo and the talented Spanish midfielder Lucas Vázquez sealed the win for Los Blancos.

For next Sunday’s complicated clash against Valencia, Rafa Benitez will certainly need to make some adjustments at the centre of his defensive line, since Sergio Ramos is not yet fully recovered from his leg injury and he is currently in doubt for the match.

As for Valencia, Los Che were defeated in their last match of 2015 by their neighbours and rivals of Villarreal and left a very poor image of themselves, especially in the first-half. A superb goal by Bruno Soriano, from a free-kick, allowed Villarreal to come out victorious from the Comunidad Valenciana derby, while also inflicting Los Che with their fifth defeat of the season. Gary Neville implemented some changes in the team’s game style by adopting a 3-5-2 formation that wasn’t by any means successful. Things are far from being easy for the English head coach, but a win over Real Madrid might bring the team the motivation they need to get back on track.

Valencia

Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2

Recent Form - LDWDL

Real Madrid

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - WWLWW

Possible Line-ups

Valencia (3-5-2) – Domenech - Aderlan - Mustafi - Abdennour - Cancelo - Barragan - André Gomes - Dani Parejo - Danilo - Negredo - Paco Alcácer

Real Madrid (4-3-3) – Navas - Danilo - Pepe - Varane - Marcelo - Kroos - Modric - James Rodriguez - Ronaldo - Bale - Benzema

Injury List / Suspended Players

Valencia - Feghouli (in doubt) - Piatti (in doubt) - Gaya (in doubt)

Real Madrid - Sergio Ramos (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions