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Real Madrid hosts Valencia in the La Liga derby in matchday 29 of the Spanish La Liga. The two sides will meet in a midweek matchup on Thursday, June 18, 2020, at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.
Real Madrid put extra pressure on La Liga leaders Barcelona after they posted a routine 3-1 victory over Eibar in their first match since the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Valencia is hanging on to the last Europa League spot by two points and they are also just four points behind fourth placer Real Sociedad for the final Champions League spot. Valencia drew with Levante 1-1 in their first assignment back.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid currently sit on second place in the Spanish La Liga table with 59 points on 17 wins, 8 draws, and three losses. The Los Blancos are currently two points behind league leaders Barcelona but because they hold the head to head advantage over Barca, all they need to do catch up and tie the leaders to win the title. With Barcelona set to host Leganes on Tuesday, Real Madrid needs this win to keep pace with the leaders.
In their most recent assignment, Real Madrid defeated relegation candidates Eibar 3-1 at home. Tony Kroos opened the scoring with a goal in the 4th minute and the Los Blancos stormed ahead 3-0 at the half. Eibar scored a goal off a second-half deflection but they never threatened Real Madrid who picked up their second win in their last five assignments.
Karim Benzema leads the team in scoring with 14 goals this season. Sergio Ramos has six goals while Kroos has netted four times. Benzema is also the team leader in passing with six assists this season while Kroos has five assists. Dani Carvajal has scored one goal and has five assists this season.
Real Madrid is the #1 defensive team in the Spanish top flight with only 20 goals conceded this term. They are ranked 2nd in scoring with a total of 52 goals this season. The Los Blancos are 2nd in passing with a total of 39 assists this year and their +32 goal difference are also second overall.
Valencia
Valencia marked their return to La Liga with a 1-1 home draw against Levante. It was a disappointing result for the Los Che who took the lead in the 89th minute after a goal by Rodrigo. However, Levante leveled the score almost immediately and managed to steal a point from the home team.
With the draw, Valencia is currently in 7th place in the Spanish La Liga team standings with 43 points from 11 wins, 10 draws, and seven losses this season. They are only two points ahead of Villareal and Granada for the final Europa League spot. Valencia has an extra 48 hours of rest since they last played on Friday.
Maxi Gomez leads Valencia with a total of nine goals scored this season. Dani Parejo has found the back of the net eight times while Kevin Gameiro has netted five times this year. Forward Rodrigo leads Valencia with seven assists while also scoring three goals while Daniel Wass has six assists for the team.
Valencia is the 6th best scoring team in Spain with a total of 39 goals scored this term. However, they are just 14th in the league in goals conceded with a total of 40 allowed this year. Valencia’s 27 assists put them in 7th place in the standings while their -1 goal difference is 10th overall.
Who Wins?
These two teams have met in a total of 188 times in their history. Real Madrid has a commanding 99-39-50 advantage in their all-time head to head matchup. These two teams played to a 1-1 draw in their reverse fixture but the Los Blancos took a 3-1 win in the Super Cup semifinals.
- Real Madrid is the second-best home team in the Spanish top flight with an undefeated record of 10-4-0 with a total of 34 points.
- Valencia is the 8th worst road club in Spain thanks to a 3-3-7 record away from home for a total of 12 points.
The Los Blancos welcomed back Belgium international Eden Hazard in their game against Eibar and he managed to play an hour before he was relieved by Vinicius Junior. Gareth Bale also came on in the second half and he could be given a starting spot on Thursday. Marco Asencio, Isco, and James Rodriguez could also see action against Valencia.
Moi Gomez played only 56 minutes against Levante and he was replaced by Kevin Gameiro who could be the starter on Thursday. Russian winger Denis Cheryshev will be looking to start after featuring in only a few minutes the last time out. Ferran Torres and Daniel Wass are also looking to play on Thursday.
Zinedine Zidane’s troops are expected to stick to their attacking style of play against Valencia, and given how the Los Che played at the Valencia Derby, this should be a routine victory for Real Madrid. I’m picking the home team to pick up all three points in this match.
Prediction: Real Madrid
Alternate Bet
Madrid boasts of the second-best attack in Spain and they have netted in 12 out of their last 13 games across all competition. Valencia has also scored in 25 out of their 28 La Liga fixtures and they have failed to score in only 5 out of 40 competitive matches since August of last year. With the teams just getting warmed up after a three-month break, expect some defensive lapses from both sides which could lead to both teams scoring.
Prediction: Both teams to score – Yes (-133)
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