Real Madrid vs Valencia: Preview, predictions and lineups

Real Madrid can move level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona when they take on Valencia in the Spanish capital on Saturday afternoon.

It’s been a hectic return to domestic action for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, whose two games post-March international break have combined for 13 goals. After a Kylian Mbappe brace inspired Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Leganes last weekend, they played out a thrilling back-and-forth cup tie with Real Sociedad in midweek.

Madrid relinquished their 1-0 lead from the first leg, with Mikel Oyarzabal’s stoppage-time header, the seventh goal of the game, forcing the contest to extra time. However, Antonio Rudiger’s strike in the extended period earned the hosts a 4-4 draw on the night, seeing them through. They’ll now face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final later this month.

Valencia have been resurgent in La Liga over the past few weeks, with a four-game unbeaten run steering them clear of the drop zone. The grand Spanish club once looked destined for the second tier, but Carlos Corberan has helped turn things around at the Mestalla.

The visitors head into Saturday’s game 15th in the table and with a four-point buffer on the drop zone.

Here is 90min’s guide to the clash.

Real Madrid vs Valencia head-to-head record (last five games)

Current form (all competitions)

It’ll be interesting to see how strong Ancelotti goes on Saturday, given that Madrid travel to the Emirates on Tuesday night. There will be changes from the side that scraped past Real Sociedad in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final in midweek, however.

Kylian Mbappe and Fran Garcia are poised for recalls, while Jude Bellingham could earn some respite. Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz are available and should be utilised from the outset.

Dani Ceballos and Ferland Mendy remain unavailable, but there’s hope the pair will travel to north London next week. Thibaut Courtois is also expected to be fit for the first leg despite his thigh injury which is likely to keep him out of action on Saturday. Andriy Lunin will continue between the posts.

Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are long-term absentees.

Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Valencia (4-2-3-1): Lunin; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Garcia; Modric, Tchouameni; Guler, Brahim, Rodrygo; Mbappe.

Dimitri Foulquier, Jose Gaya and Luis Rioja picked up their fifth yellow cards of the La Liga season last time out against Mallorca, meaning they’ll serve one-match suspensions.

Thus, Corberan will have to make several changes from a winning XI, with Jesus Vazquez, Fran Perez and Yarek Gasiorowski potentially earning starts.

Cristian Rivero and Thierry Correia are out injured. Enzo Barrenechea is the man to keep an eye on in the middle of the park.

Valencia predicted lineup vs Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili; Vazquez, Tarrega, Mosquera, Gasiorowski; Guerra, Barrenechea; Perez, Almeida, Lopez; Sadiq.

Valencia are one of La Liga’s form teams, and they certainly won’t be going down under Corberan’s watch. However, they’re yet to win away from home this season and have the third-worst record in the division on their travels.

Madrid may be flawed, but teams still find it tough to win at the Bernabeu. Very rarely do they surrender points on home soil, and they should take advantage of Valencia’s suspensions to claim a slender victory ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Arsenal.

Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Valencia

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