La Liga: Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano live
Preview
Real Madrid will play Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu at 20:00 GMT in the final La Liga game before the impending international break. Pablo Gonzalez will be the referee for this match. Los Blancos have earned some momentum with victories against Elche and Shakhtar, despite their performances not being as strong and convincing as some supporters had anticipated.
Real Madrid have kept a clean sheet in eight of their previous ten La Liga games against Madrileano opponents (W6 D4). The loss of Fede Valverde was actually felt on Wednesday night, and due to his unavailability, Carlo Ancelotti may be inclined to choose the same team. Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior provide plenty of firepower and chances to create and score even when the squad isn’t blazing on all cylinders.
Rayo have played excellent football so far this season and are presently sixth in the rankings. Rayo will most likely try to defend aggressively before attempting to score through Falcao or set pieces. They have won only one of their last 15 away La Liga games (D2 L12). They have done impressively well despite only earning promotion to Spanish football’s top-flight last season.
Head-to-head
Out of 12 games played between both teams, Madrid have secured 11 wins of their meetings, with the exception of their last meeting in April 2019 when Rayo beat Madrid by a goal to nil.
Prediction
This is expected to be a difficult match for Real Madrid, especially following their energy-sapping Champions League match. On the other hand, Los Blancos are in fine form right now, and we’re tipping Ancelotti’s team to pick up another three points tonight.
Lineup
Madrid XI: Courtois; Mendy, Alaba, Militao, Carvajal; Kroos, Casemiro, Camavinga; Junior, Benzema, Asensio
Rayo XI: Dimitrievski; Garcia, Catena, Saveljich, Balliu; Valentin, Comesana; Garcia, Trejo, Palazon; Nteka
