On Tuesday night, Real Madrid will face off against Alaves, who are riding high in La Liga at Bernabeu. Extending their winning streak to five matches in all competitions is the goal.
While Carlo Ancelotti's squad has won their past three La Liga matches, Alaves are coming off a tremendous home win over Sevilla and looking to continue their winning streak.
Previous Matches and Head-to-head
Even if Real Madrid haven't been raking in the goals this season, their undefeated record and six wins out of eight games across all competitions should be enough to terrify their opponents.
In addition to winning the UEFA Super Cup last month, Ancelotti's squad started the league round of the Champions League with a 3-1 victory against Stuttgart last week.
Los Blancos are currently in second place in La Liga with 14 points, one point behind leaders Barcelona (who have a game in hand) with four wins and two draws from six matches.
Real Madrid's last three league matches have been triumphant, with victories against Real Sociedad, Espanyol, and Real Betis. During this winning streak, Real Madrid has scored eight goals.
Before their Champions League second meeting against Lille in early October, Los Blancos must attend to the little issue of a trip to Atletico Madrid next weekend.
Acclimating to life at Bernabeu has been challenging for 25-year-old Kylian Mbappe, but the France international has six goals and an assist in eight matches, so he should achieve peak form soon.
Alaves had a fantastic 2023–24 season upon their return to the Premier League, finishing in tenth place; they have continued their good play so far this season.
The Blue and Whites are now in fifth place in the standings, four points behind Real Madrid, after a run of three wins, one draw, and two losses in their last six matches.
Due to their lack of European obligations, Alaves have spent the whole season competing in La Liga, where they are currently riding a three-game winning streak.
In fact, Luis Garcia's squad defeated Real Sociedad and Las Palmas before the international break. On Friday, they bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Espanyol on September 14 to beat Sevilla.
Last season, Real Madrid defeated Alaves 5-0 in a similar encounter, but in November 2020, the two clubs famously met at Bernabeu and Alaves memorably won 2-1.
Real Madrid x Alaves Team News
Due to injuries, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos, David Alaba, and Brahim Diaz will not be able to play for Real Madrid on Tuesday.
As for the injuries that sidelined Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal against Espanyol, the former with a recurrence of a shoulder problem and the latter with a knock are both not severe, but neither of them should be risked in this encounter.
In addition to Ferland Mendy, Antonio Rudiger, and Vinicius Junior, Lucas Vazquez may get the nod at proper back for Ancelotti's starting lineup.
Since joining Real Madrid, 18-year-old Endrick has scored twice off the bench. On Tuesday night, he might get his first start.
With Jesus Owono still out with an injury, Alaves are otherwise in great form and might repeat their performance from their victory over Sevilla.
Toni Martinez and Carlos Vicente have scored twice each in the league this season; they should continue to play in the back three, with Carlos Martin also expected to keep his place.
Alaves will likely start Joan Jordan and Ander Guevara in the holding midfield positions again, with Manu Sanchez set to play left back for the sixth time this season.
Our Predictions
Real Madrid to win to nil @ 1.77 on Sky247.ng
We are having a hard time predicting anything other than a Real Madrid home win here, even if Alaves knows what it takes to win at Bernabeu. Real Madrid has only been defeated by Alaves twice since 2000.
Although the away team deserves a lot of the credit, and Los Blancos will make some changes to their starting eleven, we still need to see the home team losing on Tuesday night.
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