After 0-0 slip-up: Real Madrid aim for victory in Elche
Unusually early kick-off time for Real Madrid: The royals have to play on the 12th matchday of La Liga on Saturday at 2 pm.
Real Madrid visit FC Elche, the fifteenth-placed team in La Liga, who have only two meagre wins to their name. The starting position is therefore clear: a win for the Blancos is a must, anything less than three points would be a disappointment.
Of course, this is also reflected in the offers of the betting companies: Before the game Elche vs. Real Madrid, the odds speak a clear language in favour of the favourites from the capital. But they did the same last time on Wednesday in the home match against Osasuna, which ended with a disappointing 0:0.
So will Real Madrid lose again three days later? It wouldn’t really come as a surprise, given the Spanish record champion’s recent disappointing performances, and yet one is naturally always inclined to bet on the record champions – also in anticipation of a reaction to the goalless draw.
And those who do so even with a handicap will find interesting betting odds of over 2.00 on Elche vs. Real Madrid.
Elche – Statistics & current form
Real Madrid are not exactly in outstanding form – but the same can be said even less of Elche. The Franjiverdes have only two wins to their name this season, both of which came with a 1:0 scoreline.
That alone speaks for itself, because Elche have problems scoring goals. Eight goals in eleven games is the third worst record in La Liga, only Getafe (four) and Alaves (five) have scored fewer. Just against Getafe one of the two 1-0 victories was achieved, while against Alaves there was a defeat in the encounter during the week on matchday 11 – unsurprisingly a 0:1.
Elche: Harmless offensive – Will Real Madrid win by zero?
No team in La Liga fires fewer shots on goal on average than Elche – 7.7 so far. By way of comparison, the harmless Getafe shoot three times as often per game (10.9), Real Madrid even more than twice as often (16.3, top value in La Liga).
In view of Elche’s harmlessness on the offensive, one should not expect a stormy performance from the home side. For example, betting on both Elche vs. Real Madrid – no can be an option.
The other option, of course, would be to bet on Real Madrid to win.
Predicted line-up of Elche:
Casilla – Palacios, Roco, Bigas, Mojica – Guti, Mascarell, Fidel, Morente – Perez, Benedetto
Last matches played by Elche:
LaLiga
10/26 2021 – Deportivo Alaves 1 – 0 Elche
10/23 2021 – Elche 2 – 2 Espanyol
10/17 2021 – Rayo Vallecano 2 – 1 Elche
10/03 2021 – Elche 1 – 0 Celta Vigo
09/26 2021 – San Sebastian 1 – 0 Elche
Real Madrid – Statistics & current form
On the other hand, of course, there are also Real Madrid’s recent more than mediocre performances – with the major exception of the CL guest game at Shakhtar Donetsk (5:0). The Madrilenians haven’t covered themselves with glory lately either, neither in principle nor in attack.
On Wednesday, there was a sobering 0:0 against CA Osasuna, it was the second 0:0 at home in the Estadio Bernabeu in a row! On matchday 7, the same result was also against Villarreal. Twice the Spanish record champions could think of little or nothing offensively to break the deadlock against valiantly fighting visiting teams.
Idea-less Real Madrid disappoint against Osasuna
“It’s hard to take the points against any team you meet,” Daniel Carvajal remarked after the disappointing result against Osasuna, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said after the unexpected point loss to the northern Spaniards: “We have a tough away game on Saturday, we have to score three points there.”
Does Real also face the threat of dropping points when they visit Elche on Saturday? At least the Madrilenians know how uncomfortable the performance at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero can be. Last season, Real did not manage more than a 1-1 draw in Elche.
If it comes to another draw, the best betting providers offer interesting odds of 4.50 on Elche vs. Real Madrid. Meanwhile, those who believe that the favourite will prevail, but will not cover themselves with glory, should bet on Real to win and less than 2.5 goals.
Predicted Real Madrid line-up:
Courtois – Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy – Casemiro, Modrid, Kroos – Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius
Last matches played by Real Madrid:
LaLiga
10/27 2021 – Real Madrid 0 – 0 Osasuna Pamplona
10/24 2021 – Barcelona 1 – 2 Real Madrid
Champions League Grp. D
10/19 2021 – Shakhtar Donetsk 0 – 5 Real Madrid
LaLiga
10/03 2021 – Espanyol 2 – 1 Real Madrid
Champions League Grp. D
09/28 2021 – Real Madrid 1 – 2 FC Sheriff
Elche – Real Madrid Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
As mentioned, Elche stole two solid points from Real Madrid at home last season – and even after Real took a 1-0 lead.
It was Elche’s first win against the Blancos after eight consecutive defeats. There was also a defeat in the second meeting in 2020/21, when Real won 2-1 at home – but again they did not cover themselves with glory, but rather struggled.
This is the record in the last ten encounters: Nine wins for Real Madrid and one draw.
Elche – Real Madrid Tip
Third weakest attack against best offence – that actually sounds like a clear thing in advance. But beware: Real have already failed to win in four of their ten games this season, twice even playing 0-0, most recently on Wednesday against Osasuna.
And Elche know how to annoy Real – with a stubborn, stubborn defence, a lot of running and fighting spirit – as they proved last season.
Would a loss of points really surprise given the Blancos’ recent performances? Probably not. And yet it is simply hard to imagine that after the 0-0 draw against Osasuna, they would once again miss out on a must-win – they would lose further ground in the championship battle.
We rather believe in an uninspiring must-win, which is in line with the recent performances and in which the offensively weak Elche also contributes little. Therefore, before Elche vs. Real Madrid, our prediction is: Real win and less than 2.5 goals scored
