Real Madrid vs Elche Match Preview & Predictions

Real Madrid vs Elche match preview and predictions for Saturday’s LaLiga match. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as Los Blancos aim to put three more points on the board.

Real Madrid vs Elche Preview

Real Madrid are back in action this Saturday with Elche visiting the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. Over a year has now passed since Los Blancos played at the Santiago Bernabeu and while they’ve done well in the big games at what is effectively their training base, it’s precisely these kind of matches where there have been slip-ups.

The likes of Cadiz and Alaves have won here this season in LaLiga, major reasons why Real Madrid are only on the periphery of this title race. They were in danger of falling out of it altogether until Karim Benzema combined with Casemiro to pop up with an 88th minute leveller in the Madrid derby last weekend at the Wanda Metropolitano. 

Atleti’s midweek win does mean that Zinedine Zidane’s side are now 8 points off the pace with the top three having all played the same number of games. The title defence isn’t over for Real Madrid but it’s clear that they are going to need something similar to the 10 straight league wins they recorded at the end of last season to stand a chance of clinching the league crown. A more likely scenario may be that the Champions League becomes the sole focus for Los Blancos with Atalanta visiting the Spanish capital this coming week.

First, they are up against an Elche side that recorded their best result of the season last time out. Up against a much changed Sevilla, Fran Escriba’s side picked up an impressive 2-1 win, their second victory in as many home games since the change in coach. Escriba was actually dealt something of a baptism of fire with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla within the space of his opening five games but he’s already eclipsed what might have been a realistic points haul, and anything here would clearly be a huge bonus.

It would still be something of a miracle if Escriba does manage to steer Elche to safety. There is a clear lack of top flight quality in their squad but there is clearly now also a belief which was increasingly lacking during the latter days of Jorge Almiron’s reign.

Head to Head

• Last 5 Competitive Meetings: 4 Real Madrid Wins, 1 Elche Win.
• The sides drew 1-1 earlier this term in the reverse fixture.
• The two 21st Century meetings in Madrid produced 5-1 and 3-0 Real Madrid wins, both in 2014.

Team News

Zinedine Zidane will have one eye on the midweek Champions League game and is unlikely to risk either Sergio Ramos or Eden Hazard, although both are training again. Mariano and Dani Carvajal are still out.

Emiliano Rigoni is expected to be the only injury absentee for Elche who must decide whether to go 4-4-2 or again or revert to a more cautious 4-5-1.

Predicted Madrid Starting Lineup:

Courtois – Marcelo, Varane, Nacho, Vazquez – Kroos, Casemiro, Valverde – Rodrygo, Benzema, Asensio (4-3-3)

Predicted Elche Starting Lineup:

Badia – Mojica, Calvo, Verdu, Barragan – Fidel, Marcone, Guti, Morente – Carrillo, Boye (4-4-2)

Real Madrid vs Elche Predictions

LaLiga Expert Predicts: Real Madrid 2-0 Elche (follow us on Tipstrr to view our betting tips)

Elche have picked up a couple of vital wins since Jorge Almiron took charge but it’s unlikely they’ll get anything here. They don’t have the personnel to execute the kind of gameplan some of the smaller visiting teams have managed to do so successfully here and with their injury problems easing, Real Madrid should claim a solid win.

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