This Sunday, Real Madrid will continue their quest to climb up the table after some disappointing results at the start of the season in the league in hopes of making up the lost ground against fierce rivals Barcelona. They will be visited by Barca’s local rivals Espanyol, who will be looking to inflict further damage on the champion’s league defense.
REAL MADRID vs. ESPANYOL
Three-way: 1: Real Madrid -476; X: ++1250 Draw; 2: Espanyol +2775
Spread -2.5: Real Madrid -115; Espanyol +123
Total +4: Over -125; Under +114
REAL MADRID
Before the league season started, Real Madrid had been playing very well as they defeated two excellent teams in Manchester United and Barcelona in European and Spanish super cups respectively. However, they dropped crucial points in the opening three matches, with two draws, which gave arch-rivals Barcelona crucial early foothold in the title, with the gap only increasing with the shocking home defeat against Real Betis. Zidane’s men are more than able to haul themselves up the table, but the fans will surely be hoping that they could have done better had they held on to excellent squad players Morata and James, as both departed this season after winning many games single-handedly for Real Madrid.
Los Blancos’ form guide over the last six games is 4-1-1, which is decent, but not quite to the level one would expect from Real Madrid when you come to know the fact that they dropped points against seemingly less fancied opponents Levante and Real Betis (with all due respect to these teams), that too at home. During this run, they have scored 12 goals, while conceding five times. Zidane will be concerned with the fact that his teams struggle to keep a clean sheet, with just one in last six matches.
Their last match was a thoroughly entertaining and professional performance against the formidable Borussia Dortmund. They visited the German team and defeated them 1:3 at their own backyard. Before this UCL win, Real Madrid went to Alaves in the league and ran out 1:2 victors there too, showing that they also can grind out results against teams that want to shut up shop in front of their goal. However, Zidane would be hoping that with players like Ronaldo, Bale, and Asensio in his ranks, his team does not struggle against opponents such as Alaves, especially in attacking sense.
Welsh speedster Gareth Bale has taken the lead in the absence of Benzema and talisman Ronaldo, as is shown by his two assists and one assist in five league appearances. Spanish wunderkind Marco Asensio is also coming to the fore, with the same stats as Bale, in six appearances. Summer signing Dani Ceballos had a night to remember against Alaves, as his first brace gave the three points to his club. Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping that he is able to get fire in the league too, as he has scored five goals this season in all competitions, but his early ban meant that his impact was reduced in the first few matches of the league season.
Real Madrid is currently going through an injury crisis, as five first-team members are out with injuries. Croatian youngster Mateo Kovacic is out until November with a Rupture of Patella, while Karima Benzema will need at least a week more to return to full training. Left Back Marcelo, and his understudy Theo Hernandez both are out with muscle injury and shoulder injury respectively. Centre Back Jesus Vallejo might be in contention for selection, as he is close to full fitness after his muscular problems.
ESPANYOL
Unlike their local rivals FC Barcelona, they haven’t had the best of starts to the season, but they have still accrued the points in a steady manner. Aside from their local derby against Barcelona, they have generally played well in the league so far this season. Their midfield is showing good signs of cohesion with the attackers, who have scored enough goals to propel them a 13th position in the league. Espanyol is a club that can surely do better, but it is not a bad start by any means.
Their record over the last six games is 2-2-2, which makes a decent reading considering they have come up against the likes of Barcelona, Bilbao, and Villarreal already. Since the start of the season, they have scored 7 goals, although four of them came in the last match itself. The defense looked a bit disoriented at times, which has resulted in them conceding easy goals and giving away clean sheets even in matches that are seemingly won by the Catalan team. Their goal has been breached 9 times, with Barcelona scoring five against them in a single match.
Their last match was a home win against Deportivo. This was arguably their best performance of the season, as they romped to a 4:1 home win, in a match where their attackers were ruthless in putting away the chances created. This match was preceded a resolute defensive performance in a 0:0 draw at Villarreal, where they had their first clean sheet of the season; something that will boost the morale of the defense.
Centre forward Gerard Moreno is leading the scoring charts for Espanyol, with three goals in six games for the Catalan side. Leo Baptistao is showing his all-round game with two goals and two assists in the same number of appearances so far. New signing Pablo Piatti has also scored one goal as he continues to operate down the left wing and provide pace and trickery.
Centre back Oscar Duarte continues on the sidelines as he recovers from a cruciate ligament ruptured in March, while forward Alvaro Vazquez will most probably miss this match due to his shoulder injury. Fullback Javi Lopez is also going to be on the sidelines as he hasn’t fully recovered from his muscle injury yet.
REAL MADRID vs. ESPANYOL – Match Prediction
The Catalan side has been in decent form of late, but it would be too much to ask to topple Real Madrid at home. Espanyol surely can take the game to Madrid and try to get a result, which is not impossible as shown by Betis, but Zidane’s men should be more focused right now. And after their amazing performance away at Dortmund, Los Blancos should be more than just confident of avoiding any slip up and give away further hold to Barcelona in the title race. With the international break coming up, I think that Real Madrid will feel confident to shoot the lights out and score bunches. Therefore, I would go with the over.
MY PICK: Over 4 goals (-125)
