Thursday evening’s hosts, Real Madrid, returned to winning ways in La Liga on Sunday when they recorded a convincing 3-1 home win over lowly Eibar which has kept the hosts in the frame for a possible league title.
Even though Real Madrid’s recent results have been a little indifferent having registered wins against arch-rivals Barcelona 2-0 and the aforementioned victory over Eibar, Zinedine Zidane’s side have also slipped to disappointing defeats to Levante and Real Betis, both of which were away from home.
🌇 #BuenosDias 🔥 @lukamodric10 #RMCity | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/dGqwmI6yD5— Real Madrid C.F.⚽ (@realmadrid) June 17, 2020
🌇 #BuenosDias 🔥 @lukamodric10 #RMCity | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/dGqwmI6yD5
Despite these losses, Real Madrid are still in touch with La Liga leaders, Barcelona, as a mere two points separate the two rivals while Real Madrid have a second home match on the trot at the Bernabeu where they still remain unbeaten so far in this campaign.
Real Madrid have been dominant on home turf so far this season, having won 10 of their 14 matches to date but they’ve also conceded goals fairly regularly as 7 of their 14 matches have seen both teams score, while the really telling statistic is their previous encounters with Valencia - 13 of their previous 14 meetings have resulted with both teams scoring.
Onto Valencia then, and as the aforementioned stat indicates, the visitors are no strangers to their Thursday evening counterparts, Real Madrid, and having put together a three-match unbeaten run heading into this clash, Valencia will fancy their chances of making life difficult for Real Madrid here.
A 2-1 home win against Real Betis was followed by back-to-back draws with Deportivo Alaves and Levante, both in 1-1 draws, and they also have the added incentive of being just three points adrift of both 5th placed Getafe and 6th placed Atletico Madrid prior to these midweek fixtures in La Liga.
However, it should be noted that the majority of Valencia’s success this season has been achieved on home turf at their Estadio de Mestalla where they too remain unbeaten, having won eight and drawn seven to date.
Results away from home have been far less convincing though as Valencia have failed to win any of their last five matches on their travels which includes defeats at Mallorca, Getafe and Real Sociedad.
An away win may be out of reach therefore for Valencia but with 9 of their 13 away matches also resulting in both teams scoring, the visitors may well make life difficult for Real Madrid in this clash.