Will Valencia score at the Bernabeu?

In Spain, the new year goes directly from one hit to the next. The first matchday was played on the first weekend in January and the Copa del Rey matches continued during the week. There is no rest for the Spanish clubs at the moment, not even for the league leaders Real Madrid, who face Valencia FC on Saturday in La Liga.

The Spanish league table looks good, but not ideal for the royals. After all, they are at the top of the standings with 46 points after 20 games. Their only rival, Sevilla, is five points behind, but has one game less. So the Madrilenians are not yet in a position to sit back and relax.

That’s because Valencia have fallen well short of their potential this season. At the moment, they are in ninth place with 28 points. From a purely standpoint of the standings, the prediction in the clash between Real Madrid and Valencia should clearly go to a home win.

However, Pepe Bordalas’ team has been getting better and better lately. The gap to the Champions League is now only four points. Therefore, the guests will now also try to take something countable at the Bernabeu and we think it is conceivable to be successful between Real Madrid and Valencia with a bet on the double chance X2.

Real Madrid – Statistics & current form

The question must be allowed whether Real Madrid are so strong this season, or whether the competition, especially Atletico and Barcelona are so weak that the royals have already been able to distance themselves so much from their former rivals. Possibly the latter is the case, because Carlo Ancelotti’s team has not always looked so confident this season.

Impressive series for the Royals

The sheer numbers, however, speak for the Madrilenians, who have suffered only one defeat in their last 17 competitive matches. However, many of the victories were close and sometimes rather lucky. Nevertheless, this record can certainly be enough to take a closer look at the odds on a home win between Real Madrid and Valencia.

2022 did not get off to a good start for the royals. In La Liga, they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Getafe FC. At least they were able to redeem themselves in the Copa del Rey during the week with a 3:1 away win at Alcoyano. Again, it was close and after Eder Militao’s lead, only Marco Asensio’s late goal and an own goal brought the decision.

The programme is lush and next week there is the Supercup against Barcelona. Therefore, there could be a rotation for the Madrilenians. Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric, Vinicius Junior and Ferland Mendy could all slide into the team. Luka Jovic (quarantine), Dani Carvajal, Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz will continue to be absent.

Predicted Real Madrid line-up:
Courtois – Mendy, Alaba, Militao, Fernandez – Casemiro, Kroos, Modric – Hazard, Vinicius Junior, Benzema – Coach: Ancelotti

Last matches played by Real Madrid:

Copa del Rey
01/05 2022 – Alcoyano 1 – 3 Real Madrid

LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Getafe 1 – 0 Real Madrid

12/22 2021 – Athletic Bilbao 1 – 2 Real Madrid

12/19 2021 – Real Madrid 0 – 0 Cadiz

12/12 2021 – Real Madrid 2 – 0 Atletico Madrid

Valencia – Statistics & current form

Pepe Bordalas has truly not had it easy in his early days as head coach at Valencia. Above all, an extremely weak autumn put his team behind in the table. In the meantime, however, things are looking up again and at least the qualification for the European Cup should be in sight again in the current condition.

Valencia in momentum

The Murcielagos have won six of their last seven games. However, it’s important to put this into perspective as well, as three of those victories came at lower-tier clubs in the Copa del Rey. Nevertheless, it is probably not inappropriate to think about a prediction on a point win for the visitors in the match between Real Madrid and Valencia.

During the week, things went very similarly for Valencia as they did for the Madrilenians. In Cartagena, Pepe Bordalas’ team struggled to a lacklustre 2-1 victory. Carlos Soler put his side ahead after half an hour, but the underdogs equalised with a quarter of an hour remaining. It was only in injury time that Denis Cheryshev scored the 2-1 winner.

Valencia FC will have to do without two important players on Saturday. Carlos Soler, the team’s best scorer, will be missing. Gabriel Paulista will also be unable to provide stability in central defence. Thierry Correia should be an option again. Attacking Hugo Duro will have to serve a suspension at the Bernabeu.

Predicted line-up of Valencia:
Cillessen – Alderete, Correia, Guillamon, Vazquez – Wass, Guedes, Gaya – Cheryshev, Helder Costa, Gomez – Coach: Bordalas

Last matches played by Valencia:

Copa del Rey
01/05 2022 – Cartagena 1 – 2 Valencia

LaLiga
12/31 2021 – Valencia 1 – 2 Espanyol

12/20 2021 –  Levante 3 – 4 Valencia

Copa del Rey
12/16 2021 – CD Arenteiro 1 – 3 Valencia

LaLiga
12/11 2021 – Valencia 2 – 1 Elche

Real Madrid – Valencia Direct comparison / H2H balance

It’s not the Superclasico, but the match between Real Madrid and Valencia FC is a perennial favourite in Spanish football. The two clubs even faced each other in the 2000 Champions League final. In total, there have been 192 games between these two rivals. The direct comparison, with 102:51 victories, speaks clearly in favour of the royals.

They have drawn 39 times alone. The first leg of the current season, however, went to the Madrilenians. After a goalless first half, Hugo Duro gave the home side a 1-0 lead at the Mestalla. It was not until the final minutes that Real turned the game in their favour and won 2-1 after goals from Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema.

Real Madrid – Valencia Tip

Real Madrid have become a results machine this season. Carlo Ancelotti’s team does not always play well, but successfully. Together with Sevilla FC, they have managed to distance themselves from the rest of the league. Only one defeat in the last 17 games is an expression of what the Madrilenians are capable of at the moment.

However, Valencia are also in good form. Pepe Bordalas’ team has won six of its last seven games. So they certainly won’t be travelling to the capital as cannon fodder. Maybe they can take points off the possible Spanish champions. We think it’s hard to find the right tip between Real Madrid and Valencia.

However, we’re going with the underdog for once here, because we see the value in the odds on the visitors winning a point and because the Madrilenians haven’t performed very confidently this year. Therefore, we have decided to play the betting odds on the double chance X2 between Real Madrid and Valencia