Deportivo Alaves vs Real Madrid

Deportivo Alaves and Real Madrid are set to face-off against each other at the Estadio Mendizorrotza in their 2021/22 La Liga opener.

An utterly underwhelming 2020/21 La Liga campaign saw Alaves finish 16th in the standings for the second season running. That, coupled with a lack of activity in the transfer window, indicates the hosts are unlikely to improve upon their tendency for dreadful La Liga starts. Indeed, ‘El Glorioso‘ have managed just one win from their last seven top-flight openers (D3, L3). One of the main reasons behind Alaves‘ relegation survival last season was a solid home form down the final stretch of the campaign as they put together four straight La Liga home games without losing (W3, D1). Additionally, despite a disappointing return of 0.94 goals on average per league match, Alaves found the back of the net in 73.68% of their home La Liga fixtures last term.

After finishing runners-up to cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid, ‘Los Merengues’ went on to renounce two long-serving stalwarts, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, in the summer. With David Alaba being the only high-profile addition in the summer, Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced Zinedine Zidane at the helm, might have problems leading Real Madrid to the title this term. However, the Italian boss has inherited an outstanding 18-match unbeaten La Liga streak from his predecessor (W13, D5). ‘Los Blancos‘ also go up against a side they have outplayed in 17 of their previous 22 top-flight H2H meetings (D2, L3), scoring an intimidating average of 2.68 goals per game across that sequence. Moreover, the visitors have not lost their opening day match in La Liga since 2008, racking up a 12-game undefeated run in such fixtures (W8, D4).