In this week 17 match on the 2nd of February, Real Madrid hosts Valencia in a clash of these two extremely mismatched La Liga teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 7 degrees, so hopefuly the match makes up for the weather. 2nd placed Real Madrid is fresh off their 0-0 scoreless draw against Real Sociedad. Neither Real Madrid nor Real Sociedad could manage to put one past the goalie. They had 20 and 11 shots on net respectively, but no one could score, and the match ended in a scoreless draw,. Real Madrid is on a hot streak lately, with only 2 loss in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, Valencia recorded a 0-1 loss against Real Valladolid. Cyle Larin scored the first goal for Real Valladolid in the 90th minute, and with that single goal the scoring was complete. Neither team could manage anything else In the end, Valencia was frustrated by Real Valladolid’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Real Valladolid ended the match with the shutout victory. Valencia is looking for direction having earned 11 points in their last 10 matches.
These two teams have not yet played each other this season. Last season Real Madrid won the head to head battle with 2 wins.
Both Edinson Cavani and Justin Kluivert have been the hottest scorers for Valencia in the last five each having scored 2 goals each. Karim Benzema has been the most prolific scorer on Real Madrid in the last five matches with three goals
Aurelien Tchouameni, Eden Hazard, Ferland Mendy, Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez are unavailable to play for Real Madrid, while Ivan Gennaro Gattuso’s squad will be without Thierry Correia, Jaume Doménech and Nico González.