Elche vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid head to the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero to take on Elche, looking to bounce back from midweek’s disappointment and reclaim their place at the La Liga summit.

Elche found a late equalizer to hold Espanyol to a 2-2 draw in their most recent La Liga home fixture to maintain their unbeaten top-flight record at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero this season (W1, D4). However, that stalemate is also a part of Elche’s three-match winless league streak (D1, L2) that currently puts them a mere two points above the drop zone. The one thing Fran Escriba would like to see his side improve on is their post-lead performance, considering ‘Los Franjiverdes’ have dropped a league-high nine points from leading positions this season. Indeed, lapses of concentration beyond half-time have seen Elche register a clear majority (75%) of their total La Liga goals conceded at home this season in the second half of play (3/4).

Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s title ambitions suffered a massive setback in midweek as they played out a dismal goalless home draw with Osasuna, which now means they’ve won just one of their last four La Liga fixtures (D2, L1). Having amassed the same amount of points after ten rounds as they did two years ago when they left their 34th La Liga crown, ‘Los Merengues’ will believe there is a good omen here. As for inspiration, they won’t have to look beyond their most recent league trip when they defeated arch-rivals Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou, a scoreline that has consecutively appeared across their last three La Liga away matches (W2, L1). Additionally, the fact that Carlo Ancelotti’s men have scored in 16 straight top-flight games against Elche should ease Madrid’s fears of playing out back-to-back scoreless draws in La Liga for the first time since December 2019.