Real with next win and clean sheet?
Promoted Almeria start the new La Liga season with maximum difficulty. The champions Real Madrid are coming to visit. The guests also picked up their next title this week.
In the UEFA Super Cup in Helsinki, Ancelotti’s eleven beat Eintracht Frankfurt as expected with a straightforward 2-0 victory. The Andalusians will once again start the tournament as reigning Segunda Division champions.
For the match at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos between Almeria and Real Madrid, betting on an away win to nil seems to be profitable.
Almeria – Statistics & current form
The red and whites are back in La Liga after seven years in the Spanish lower house! However, the “Almeriensistas” only just made the jump, as third place, which would have meant no more direct promotion, was only one point away at the final reckoning.
The championship only came on top due to a better goal difference compared to Valladolid, who were also promoted. The last trip to the top flight lasted only two seasons and the club from the port city will have a hard time this time as well.
The test matches have already been mixed, with three wins and three defeats. Furthermore, the successes were only achieved against lower-class Spanish teams and are therefore of little significance.
Top scorer to leave Almeria
On the offensive side, a particularly painful departure is now imminent. We are talking about Umar Sadiq, who was once again the home side’s top scorer last season with 18 goals.
In the season before last, he had already snatched this title with 20 goals. Now he was already absent in the last three test matches and the reason is clear.
The Nigerian is not supposed to get injured shortly before a sale and in the Spanish media, among others, BVB from the Bundesliga and league rival Villarreal are considered hot candidates for a signing.
Without Sadiq, the offensive of the “Rojiblancos” must be described as severely weakened. With 18 goals and nine assists, the attacker was involved in no less than 40 per cent of all goals scored by “Unión” last season!
Ramazani is not Sadiq
The hopes now lie mainly on Belgian Largie Ramazani. The second highest scorer for Coach Rubi’s side last season also scored in the final test match against Al-Hilal SFC.
But his goal did not change the 2-1 defeat against the club from Saudi Arabia and there is no question that he does not have the exceptional class of Sadiq. On top of that, his goal against the Saudis only came from the penalty spot.
Given this and the fact that last year’s best attacking team in La Liga is travelling, the odds on an away win with at least a two-goal difference in the clash between Almeria and Real Madrid are also of interest.
Predicted line-up of Almeria:
Fernando – Akieme – Costa – Eguaras – Lazo – Ely – Melo – Mendes – Portillo – Puigmal – Ramazani
Last matches played by Almeria:
Friendly club matches
07/08/2022 – Al Hilal 2 – 1 Almeria
06/08/2022 – Almeria 1 – 0 Cartagena
30/07/2022 – Almeria 2 – 3 Granada
30/07/2022 – Almeria 1 – 1 Malaga
25/07/2022 – San Fernando CD 2 – 3 Almeria
Real Madrid – Statistics & current form
The Madrilenians may start a bit tired as they were challenged in the UEFA Super Cup last Wednesday night as mentioned. On the other hand, the match didn’t take too much energy, as Eintracht could only stand up to Real to a limited extent.
In the end, Madrid lifted the cup for the fifth time and Karim Benzema delivered one of the two goals. The attacker was already unstoppable in the Champions League last season and took the top scorer’s crown with 15 goals.
Against this backdrop, his goal in the Super Cup was absolutely deserved, as it showed once again that the Frenchman was quite simply the best striker in the last edition of the competition.
Furthermore, Benzema was also the top scorer in La Liga last season and his form is already back on track. Before the goal in the final, the attacker had already scored in the two final test matches against Juventus and Club America from Mexico.
Benzema is far from done
It is obvious that the 34-year-old continues to have a particularly strong appetite for goals. In light of this, betting on his next goal celebration in the match between Almeria and Real Madrid is an additional option.
The capitals can also rely on their away strength in the encounter. Only three of last season’s 19 away games ended in defeat for coach Carlo Ancelotti’s side, and Real’s 42 points were the best in La Liga (13-3-3).
Projected Real Madrid line-up:
Courtois – Alaba – Mendy – Militao – Carvajal – Modric – Casemiro – Kroos – Vinicius Junior – Benzema – Valverde
Last matches played by Real Madrid:
UEFA Super Cup
11/08/2022 – Real Madrid 2 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Club friendlies
31/07/2022 – Real Madrid 2 – 0 Juventus FC
27/07/2022 – Real Madrid 2 – 2 CF America
24/07/2022 – Real Madrid 0 – 1 FC Barcelona
Champions League Final
29/05/2022 – Liverpool FC 0 – 1 Real Madrid
Almeria – Real Madrid Direct comparison / H2H balance
The last time Almeria and the champions faced each other was in April 2015. At that time, the Madrilenians won 3-0 at home in the Bernabéu. Thanks to the success, the champions are unbeaten in ten comparisons in this pairing, failing to win only two of those games!
Almeria – Real Madrid Tip
For the clash between Almeria and Real Madrid, the tip is aiming for an away win to nil. The visitors proved last Wednesday that they are ready for the new season with a win in the UEFA Super Cup.
In addition, Karim Benzema is still hungry for goals and has already scored three times in a row for the “Blancos”.
Another factor in favour of the prediction is that the “Indálicos” will be without their top striker Umar Sadiq, while the visitors have strengthened their defence in the transfer phase.
With players such as German international Antonio Rüdiger or king transfer Aurelien Tchouameni, last season’s second safest defence after Sevilla is now even better positioned.
In addition, Madrid have arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in Thibaut Courtois, just in case.
The recent clean sheets against Frankfurt and before that against Juve in the test match showed in any case that the defence of the champions is very difficult to overcome and the home side also do not have the playful means for a goal of their own.
The statistics also back up the prediction: three of the last four duels ended with victories to nil for Real!
