Espanyol vs Real Madrid
Spanish LaLiga.
Date: Sunday, 19th September, 2016
Kick-off: 01:45 GMT+7.
Venue: RCDE Stadium, Barcelona.
Espanyol takes on Real Madrid in La Liga this weekend and the home side will be looking to pick up their first win of the season.
Espanyol have had a very poor start to the season and have picked up just 2 points from the three opening games. A defeat against Sevilla was followed by two consecutive draws against Malaga and Real Sociedad.
A leaky defence has been their undoing so far and against Real Madrid it could cost them dearly.
The only boost for Quique Sanchez Flores is that he has a fully fit squad to choose from and will be able to field his strongest lineup.
Espanyol’s Predicted Starting Lineup (4-4-2): Roberto; Lopez, Reyes, Duarte, Sanchez; Perez, Lopez, Fuego, Piatti; Moreno, Baptistao.
Los Blancos have started the season really well and Zinedine Zidane will want to extend that run of form against Espanyol this weekend.
Real Madrid have not won the League title since the Jose Mourinho era and will be desperate to make their mark domestically this season.
They have won all of their matches in all competitions so far and have looked unplayable at times.
Considering Espanyol’s form and the gulf in quality between the two sides, another comfortable win for Real Madrid is very much on the cards here.
Zinedine Zidane is without injured trio Keylor Navas, Fabio Coentrao and Isco for the trip to Espanyol.
Real Madrid’s Predicted Starting Lineup (4-3-3): Casilla; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale.
Key Facts
Espanyol currently maintains 4 games unbeaten run at home. The White and blue are in search of their first win of the season, after they have recorded 2 draws, and 1 defeat in 3 leagues games so far.
Real Madrid is currently on 15 league games winning streak. In addition, the blancos have won 8 of their last 10 away games with Espanyol.
Espanyol: Predicted Line-Up (4-4-2)
Lopez: Lopez, Duarte, Sanchez, Duarte: Perez, Junque, Piatti, Jurado: Baptistao, Moreno
Real Madrid: Predicted Line-Up (4-3-3)
Casillas: Sergio, Pepe, Cavarjal, Marcelo: Kroos, Modric, Kovacic: Asensio, Benzema , Morata.
Espanyol vs Real Madrid: Head to Head
Real Madrid currently enjoys 6 straight league victories over Espanyol, and 8 straight win in 8 competitive games.
In addition, Real Madrid won 9 of their last 10 encounter with the Barcelona based club.
Espanyol vs Real Madrid: Prediction
It will be fair if a bookmaker stick all it neck out for a straight Real Madrid victory. The Blancos boast of an incredible stat against their Sunday counterpart, especially with their free scoring show in the same fixture last season.
However, With due respect to Espanyol and not considering the Barcelona vs Alaves surprise, I will predict an 100% victory for Real Madrid. The only difficult part is to find a suitable bet due to low odds in favour of the visitors.
Over 3.5 goals at 2.20 (6/5)
Real Madrid to win first half at 1.90 (10/11).
