Real Madrid narrowly beat Inter Milan in the Champions League and will hope to keep their winning streak going this weekend in La Liga. The Spanish giants face Valencia at the Mestalla on Sunday night. Carlo Ancelotti’s side will move top of the La Liga table with a win tonight and that will act as a huge fillip to the talented squad.
Madrid will have bitter memories of their last trip to Valencia as they were soundly beaten 4-1 in November last year. They are unbeaten so far in all competitions this season and will go into the game as favourites.
Let’s take a look at the possible Real Madrid lineup for the game against Valencia.
Team News: Real Madrid will continue to be without a few of their key players. Midfielder Toni Kroos, left-backs Marcelo and Ferland Mendy, as well as attacker Gareth Bale will miss Sunday’s game.
PREDICTED REAL MADRID LINEUP VS VALENCIA (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois put in a man-of-the-match performance against Inter Milan and will continue to feature in the Real Madrid lineup.
Defence
Carlo Ancelotti tweaked the defence a little bit for the game against Inter, with Nacho starting at left-back and David Alaba starting at centre-back. In the continued absence of Mendy and Marcelo, the Italian coach could stick to the same personnel at left-back and the left-sided centre-back. Youngster Miguel Gutierrez could also be an option for Ancelotti at left-back.
Eder Militao should also retain his place in defence in the Real Madrid lineup. Dani Carvajal should start at right-back. Jesus Vallejo will be an option off the bench for the central defensive role.
Midfield
Carlo Ancelotti could use a 4-4-2 set-up to counter Valencia’s formation. The Italian used the formation in Madrid’s last league game against Celta Vigo, which was a success as they won 5-2.
The 4-4-2 set-up will turn to a 4-3-3 formation in attack, while when defending, the La Liga leaders will close the space out wide and compress the midfield. Casemiro and Luka Modric should play centrally, while Federico Valverde should start on the right in the Real Madrid lineup, moving in-field when Madrid have the ball to allow Carvajal and Modric to bomb forward.
Vinicius should start on the left and use his speed and dribbling to cause trouble to the Valencia defence.
Attack
The 4-4-2 formation will also allow Ancelotti to play both Vinicius and Eden Hazard, both of whom like to play out on the left. Hazard will likely play up top but will be given freedom to roam across the final third and run at the opposition defence. Hazard should be fresh as he was an unused substitute in the Champions League game.
Karim Benzema will be the focal point of the Real Madrid lineup against Valencia.
