Will Elche trip up the Royals?
The last 16 of the Spanish Copa del Rey concludes on Thursday. The last two qualifiers for the quarter-finals will be sought on that day. FC Elche will receive the royals from the capital in the early evening. There is not much discussion about the role of the favourites in this duel. In the match between Elche and Real Madrid, all predictions are that the visitors will advance, and they must be considered one of the hottest candidates for the title.
The main focus of the hosts is certainly on securing their place in the league. Currently, the Green-Whites are just above the line. A surprise against the La Liga leaders would give them a lot of confidence in their fight against relegation, but the home side has never managed to beat the white ballet. This year, however, Elche are still unbeaten.
But the Madrilenians will not want to be held back by the Franjiverdes in their title chase this year. Real are represented in three competitions and will be looking to add one or two to their collection of titles this summer. Kick-off is at 19:00 on Thursday evening at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero. Will the Royals live up to their role as favourites?
Elche – Statistics & current form
Last season, the Green-Whites were promoted to seventeenth place and thus secured their place in the top Spanish league. This year, too, the Franjiverdes are only concerned with staying in the league. Due to the poor sporting performance, coach Sergio Mantecon was dismissed after fifteen match days. Francisco Rodriguez took over as his successor.
A clear upward trend can be seen under him. Three wins and ten points have already been collected from the six league games. With 22 points, the hosts currently occupy fifteenth place. The lead over the first relegation place is now five points, but the situation is still threatening.
Elche’s back line stabilises
For a long time, the defence was the big weak point. With 28 goals conceded, the Green-Whites still deliver the league’s sixth-worst score, but in the last three La Liga games, the Franjiverdes have only conceded one goal. The attack has scored 21 times so far. The most prolific scorer is Argentine Lucas Boye, who has already got past the opposition keeper six times.
Elche are still without defeat in 2022
The hosts are still unbeaten this year. In the championship, there was a 0-0 draw against Granada and two wins at Espanyol (2:1) and against Villarreal (1:0). In the Copa, the men from the Valencia region have already had to play three times. The home side was unstoppable against the underclass teams of Leioa (2:0), Unionistas (1:0) and Almeria (2:1).
But now a completely different calibre is coming to the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero with the Royal. The visitors are well represented in all competitions and it is not surprising that all bookmakers’ predictions for Elche against Real Madrid point to a defeat for the Rodriguez team. The odds for a bet on the hosts top out at 6.50.
Predicted line-up of Elche:
Badia – Palacios, Roco, Verdu, Mojica – Milla, Gumbau, Mascarell, Tete Morente – Perez, Carrillo
Last matches played by Elche:
LaLiga
01/16 2022 – Elche 1 – 0 Villarreal FC
01/10 2022 – Espanyol 1 – 2 Elche
Copa del Rey
01/06 2022 – Almeria 1 – 2 Elche
LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Elche 0 – 0 Granada
12/18 2021 – Barcelona 3 – 2 Elche
Real Madrid – Statistics & current form
After last season’s league title went to city rivals Atletico and the Royals failed to win a title for the first time in eleven years, coach Zinedine Zidane’s contract was terminated. Under Carlo Ancelotti, the team is now supposed to get back on the road to success.
And so far the expectations have been fulfilled. In the league, Real greets us from the top of the table. Together with Sevilla FC, the Madrilenians have pulled away from the rest of the field and are currently five points ahead of the Andalusians, who, however, still have one more game to play. Their nearest rivals are already fifteen points behind the Spanish record champions.
Real won the Supercup last week
Last week, they clinched their first title of the season. With victories over Barcelona (3:2) and Athletic Bilbao (2:0), the royals won the Supercup. In the Copa, the “white ballet” passed the first test safely at CD Alcoyano with 3:1.
Internationally, Los Blancos represented their colours in the Champions League. In Group D, Real finished first after all the matches, ahead of Inter Milan, Sheriff Tiraspol and Shakhtar Donetsk. In the next round, we now look forward to the clash with PSG!
Madrid with only one defeat from 20 games
In the last twenty competitive games, the royals have conceded only one defeat. They suffered a 1-0 defeat at Getafe FC at the beginning of the year. Otherwise, there have been seventeen wins and two draws. An impressive series.
This makes the visitors one of the biggest title contenders in all competitions, and rightly so. With 45 goals, the Madrilenians have by far the best attack in La Liga. With Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior, two players from their ranks are at the top of the goalscoring list. With only eighteen goals conceded, Real have the second-best defence in the Spanish top flight after Sevilla FC (13 goals conceded).
Predicted Real Madrid line-up:
Courtois – Mendy, Alaba, Fernandez, Vazquez – Kroos, Casemiro, Modric – Viniciius Junior, Benzema, Asensio
Last matches played by Real Madrid:
Super Cup
01/16 2022 – Athletic Bilbao 0 – 2 Real Madrid
01/12 2022 – Barcelona 2 – 3 Real Madrid
LaLiga
01/08 2022 – Real Madrid 4 – 1 Valencia
Copa del Rey
01/05 2022 – Alcoyano 1 – 3 Real Madrid
LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Getafe 1 – 0 Real Madrid
Elche – Real Madrid Direct comparison / H2H balance
The two teams have faced each other in seven duels so far. With six wins and one draw, the overall balance speaks a clear language in favour of the royals. In the first leg of the current season, Ancelotti’s team won 2-1 against the Green-Whites. Vinicius Junior was the man of the match with two goals.
For Thursday’s match between Elche and Real Madrid, the odds for a bet on the visitors are 1.54 at the top. The home side’s only draw came last season in a 1-1 draw at home. A repeat of that result would be quite a surprise. The Madrilenians have scored at least two goals in all six of their other encounters.
Elche – Real Madrid Tip
There is no need to discuss the role of the favourites in this duel. The royals are currently the measure of all things in Spain. In all competitions, the Ancelotti eleven is considered a hot title contender. The Copa is no exception. But the hosts could prove to be an uncomfortable stumbling block.
After all, the home side are still without defeat this year and have already won three of their four competitive matches. The change to new coach Francisco Rodriguez has paid off in the meantime and the Green-Whites have freed themselves from the bottom of the table. Equipped with the necessary self-confidence, the Franjiverdes will try to give Real a leg up.
We are also sure that the Madrilenians will advance to the next round. But the home side’s defence has proved to be very solid in recent games, so we trust them to keep the nil for a long time. Our recommendation is to bet on Elche scoring more goals in the second half than in the first half. The odds for this are 2.20 at the top.
We do not expect a goal spectacle, so that a bet on a duel with less than 2.5 goals is a promising alternative at odds of 2.02 in the match Elche vs Real Madrid.
