Valencia analyses
Valencia are third in the Spanish Primera Liga table standings.
They have 28 points from thirteen games and they seat just three points behind Real Madrid who are second in the table.
Valencia are unbeaten at home this season and they’ve scored as much as 10 goals in six matches at the Mestalla stadium.
The only time they failed to score on their own soil was against Barcelona when they played a goalless draw back in October.
Defensively, Valencia have an average record with one goal conceded per game played at home. In their last match at the Mestalla, Los Che suffered a blow as Real Mallorca’s Valero cancelled David Villa’s 48th minute goal. The game ended 1-1 with the hosts picking up their fourth draw in La Liga this season.
Valencia will be hoping to avoid a second consecutive home draw on Saturday when they’ll welcome Real Madrid.
Los Che have lost only once this season compared to Real Madrid’s two defeats. However, too many draws have put them below Los Blancos in the table standings.
Real Madrid analyses
Real Madrid are five points behind Barcelona in the table and both of their losses came against big guns away from home.
The Spanish giants failed to clinch a single point against Sevilla and Barcelona earlier on so they’ll want to grab their first victory from a titanic encounter.
Real Madrid’s away record is not the best and Valencia could gain confidence over Los Blancos’ statistics.
In six away games, Real Madrid netted nine goals and conceded five times. Despite recording three away clean sheets, Manuel Pellegrini’s men cannot boast too much knowing that they’ve also failed to score away from home at two occasions.
Valencia v Real Madrid – the absence of key players
Ahead of Saturday’s big clash, things arguably look evenly balanced. One may tip Real Madrid as favorites to come out victors from the game considering the size of their team in terms of names.
Others will rather pick Valencia over Los Blancos due to the fact that Real Madrid will miss Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Kaka’s influence.
Talking over this issue, Valencia’s David Albeda declared:
“If Ronaldo and Kaka don’t feature, that’s good for us. If someone else is out too, it’s even better.”
But Valencia, who maintain an unbeaten record in 15 games in all competition, will also have to deal with the absence of David Silva. The Spanish playmaker is out with an injury.
Quick team news and points ahead of Valencia v Real Madrid
Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos should be fit in time to play against Valencia on Saturday. Meanwhile, Karim Benzema is expected to replace Real Madrid’s suspended attacker Cristiano Ronaldo.
According to Raul Albiol, the absences of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo should not come as an excuse as Real Madrid will be going all out for a victory.
Los Blancos are weak in defense and David Villa could engineer a lot of trouble against them. However, Xabi Alonso believes that his Spanish compatriot should not be singled out as Valencia have other players who could create the damage.
