07 January 2022, 16:56 | 28 August 2021, 15:29
Real Madrid CF vs. Valencia CF kicks off at 21:00 (GMT+1) on Saturday, January 8, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
Preview Real Madrid La Liga, Jan 8, 2022
Preview Real Madrid are coming off the back of Wednesday’s 3-1 Copa del Rey win over CD Alcoyano. An own goal from José Juan (78’ O.G.), coupled with goals from Éder Militão (39’) and Marco Asensio (76'), settled the contest of ninety minutes at the Campo Municipal El Collao. With Alcoyano finding the leveler in the 66th minute, Carlo Ancelotti had a few words to say in his post-match interview. These kinds of matches aren’t about quality, the Madrid boss said after the mid-week win over the third-tier side. When they equalized with their great goal, we didn’t lose our heads. This was the way we had to play and we won it, Ancelotti added. Back on LaLiga soil, Madrid picked up a shock 1-0 defeat to Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez last weekend. Brazilian center-back Militão lost the ball at the edge of his own box, leaving Getafe’s Enes Ünal (9’) with the opener inside the first ten minutes. Madrid were unable to find their way back into the game, despite having slightly over 80 minutes to do so. It was the first defeat in five LaLiga fixtures for the Whites: WWDWL. The loss saw Madrid’s lead at the top of the table shrink to five points, with second-placed Sevilla having 41 points. Real Madrid now has 46 points after 14W, 4D, and 2L. A 4—3—3 formation with the trio consisting of Vinicius Jnr., Karim Benzema, and Eden Hazard is expected in attack for this fixture against the Bats. Bale is ruled out due to personal reasons, along with Luka Jović (COVID-19), while Daniel Carvajal (calf injury) remains in doubt for the weekend.
Preview Valencia La Liga, Jan 8, 2022
Preview Following the 2-1 loss to Espanyol last Friday, Valencia dropped one spot lower on the table, moving from 8th to 9th place. The club has 28 points from 7W, 7D, and 5L, coupled with a form that reads: DWWWL, ahead of this fixture against Real Madrid. The Bats will be coming off a Copa del Rey 2-1 win over FC Cartagena earlier in the week. A goal from Carlos Soler (35’) and a stoppage-time winner from Denis Cheryshev (90’+3) saw the Bats take flight into the next round of the competition. Last time out, against FC Cartagena, José Bordalás adopted an attacking 4—3—3 formation. However, a switch back to the 4—4—2 seen against Espanyol is expected for Saturday’s game against Real Madrid. Hugo Duro [82' R.] picked up a red card in the game against Espanyol and is suspended for this weekend’s fixture.