Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Spanish La Liga match.
Something terrible happened to Real Madrid’s defensive line. Besides Militão and Courtois, who have been injured for so long, now Tchouaméni and Kepa Arrizabalaga can help the team, too. Rüdiger is disqualified. With so many players being off the game, you can even take a risk and bet on the away team to win. Valencia have shown the best start of the season since 2017/18, with 18 points. They have already beaten top teams this season, for example, Atlético (3:0).
Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League play-offs after beating Braga (3:0) on Wednesday. However, they performed unconfidently in defence and let their opponent shoot from a penalty spot. Nevertheless, Real Madrid haven’t lost a home game yet, keeping the clean sheet in the last 5 matches. Jude Bellingham is likely to miss the game, too.
Valencia can perform well in top games. They have already beaten Atlético (3:0). In the beginning of the season, they managed to defeat Sevilla (2:1), current Europa League title holder. The main advantage of Valencia is their perfectly organised defence. They’re amongst the top 3 teams in La Liga, if we talk about the expected goals against (xga = 1,03).
Real is unable to dominate now. Even if they lead, they’re unlikely to risk and will agree to end the game with a minimum advantage.
