The next few days could prove crucial in this season’s race for the Spanish top-flight title. League leaders Real Madrid have the chance to re-establish their four-point lead at the top of La Liga when they host out of form Alaves at the Bernabeu on Friday night.
Los Blancos’ lead at the top of the table was cut to one point on Wednesday night, as reigning champions, Barcelona reduced the gap after a nervy 1-0 win over Espanyol in a Catalan derby.
This game looks to be an ideal one for Zinedine Zidane’s team to record what could be a crucial win with such few league games remaining this season.
Real Madrid have won their last seven games in La Liga. However, the team from the Spanish capital have been rather grinding out wins of late. Their last three league matches have finished with 1-0 wins. Last time out Zidane’s team needed a Sergio Ramos penalty to see-off Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.
The victory in Bilbao saw the leaders keep up an impressive defensive record, as they kept their fifth clean sheet in six league matches, including not conceding in their previous four outings.
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Alaves are still not clear of the relegation zone. The visitors are six points clear of the bottom three and should be safe enough.
However, a run of five straight league defeats has kept them looking nervously over their shoulders at the danger zone.
One of the most noticeable trends from those recent defeats is a lack of goals, as Alaves have failed to score in their last five league matches. With Real Madrid’s strong recent defensive record, it looks unlikely they will end that poor recent record in front of goal at the Bernabeu.
Forebet predicts that Real Madrid will continue their winning run at the Bernabeu, moving one step closer to ending Barcelona’s run of winning La Liga.