Valencia vs Real Madrid Preview: Team News & Prediction
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It has been a dreadful few months both on and off the pitch for Valencia as Los Che get La Liga back underway after the winter break with a clash against the famous Real Madrid at Mestalla.
Kick-off date/time: Friday 3rd January, 2025: UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 3:00pm / US PT – 12:00pm
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Valencia vs Real Madrid may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
Valencia Preview: Valencian struggles
Over the winter break, the in-crisis Valencians took the decision to sack former player Ruben Baraja and managed to agree a compensation package with West Bromwich Albion to appoint former Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan as they try and fight relegation.
Los Che begin the weekend sitting second-from-bottom with just two victories in their 17 matches so far this season. Their most recent outing saw them share a 2-2 draw with Deportivo Alaves to mean they are now winless in their last five games in La Liga.
Real Madrid Preview: Finding rhythm
Carlo Ancelotti has his Real Madrid side once again firmly in the Liga title race after an underwhelming start to the campaign but the collapse of Barcelona and steady improvement of Los Blancos has them now challenging with Atletico Madrid at the top end of the table.
Madrid come into this one on the back of a 4-2 victory over Sevilla in their most recent outing a few weeks ago with Kylian Mbappe once again getting on the scoresheet and the improvement of the France striker has been representative of Madrid’s general rise in recent months.
Valencia Team News: Key defensive issues
Georgia international goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili suffered an injury before the winter break and remains a doubt for this weekend alongside experienced defenders Mouctar Diakhaby and Jose Luis Gaya, whilst Pepelu is missing through suspension.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Dimitrievski; Foulquier, Cristhian Mosquera, Gasiorowski, Luis Rioja; Barrenechea, Javi Guerra; Sergi Canos, Almeida, Diego Lopez; Hugo Duro
Unavailable: Correia (Injured), Pepelu (Suspended)
Questionable: Mamardashvili (Injured), Diakhaby (Injured), Jose Luis Gaya (Injured), Fran Perez (Injured), Rafa Mir (Injured)
Real Madrid Team News: Endrick a doubt
Summer signing Endrick is an injury doubt for this weekend with Real Madrid dealing with a few absentees as Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal still unavailable as David Alaba eases his way back to full fitness after a nightmare-ish 18 months or so.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Camavinga; Dani Ceballos, Fede Valverde; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius Junior; Mbappe
Unavailable: Militao (Injured), Dani Carvajal (Injured)
Questionable: Alaba (Injured), Endrick (Injured)
Valencia vs Real Madrid Prediction
Carlos Corberan does play quite a modern and progressive style of football but there has been a bit of irritation and frustration for West Brom supporters this season due to the lack of wins. The Baggies, for example, went on a run of 11 draws and one win in 12 matches through the autumn. They will try and play quite a sophisticated and detailed reactive style to try and squeeze the space of Madrid’s stars in the final third but Los Blancos will still be expected to come out on top in what may end up being fairly low-scoring.
Valencia vs Real Madrid Tip: Real Madrid to win & under 3.5 goals
