A revitalised Real Madrid will be targeting a fifth straight victory in all competitions when they continue their La Liga campaign away to Eibar on Sunday night.
Zinedine Zidane's side currently sit third in the table, level on points with leaders Atletico Madrid and second-placed Real Sociedad, while Eibar occupy 11th spot, having made a solid start to the season.
Match preview
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Eibar have only won three of their 13 La Liga matches this season, but a total of 15 points has left them in 11th spot, which represents a respectable start to the campaign for the Basque club.
Los Armeros, who were a third-tier team as recently as 2013, continue to punch above their weight at this level of football and are currently in their seventh straight season in the top flight.
Jose Luis Mendilibar's side managed to book their spot in the second round of the Copa del Rey courtesy of a 2-0 victory away to Racing Rioja on Thursday night.
Eibar, who have lost their last three La Liga fixtures with Madrid, also picked up an excellent point away to second-placed Sociedad last weekend, while they have lost just once in the league since the end of September, which is an indication of their credentials leading into this contest.
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Madrid, meanwhile, have enjoyed a productive December to date, booking their spot in the last-16 stage of the Champions League, in addition to recording three straight league victories.
Indeed, a 1-0 success away to Sevilla was followed by a 2-0 home win over Atletico Madrid last weekend; Los Blancos then beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 on Tuesday night to return to third position in the table.
Zidane's side are level on points with the top two and have a game in hand on Sociedad, but Atletico have only played 11 league matches this term and are therefore still in a strong position at the summit.
Madrid's injury situation has eased ahead of this match, and they will fancy their chances of ending 2020 with three straight victories over Eibar, Granada and Elche.
The Spanish champions, who will face Atalanta BC in the last-16 stage of the Champions League, have not been without their problems this term, but it could still be a very successful second half to the season as they go in search of more silverware.
Eibar La Liga form: LDDWDD
Eibar form (all competitions): DDWDDW
Real Madrid La Liga form: LDLWWW
Real Madrid form (all competitions): LLWWWW
Team News
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Eibar will be without the services of Cote, Quique Gonzalez and Rober Correa through injury this weekend, while Esteban Burgos is suspended due to the booking that he picked up against Sociedad.
Kevin Rodrigues, Pedro Bigas, Paulo Oliveira and Sergi Enrich are also doubts, meaning that Mendilibar might not be able to make a final call on his starting XI until Saturday.
Yoshinori Muto and Kike are again expected to operate as the front two, but there will have to be alterations further back with Rodrigues - if he proves his fitness - coming into the XI, while Burgos's absence could see Anaitz Arbilla switch from left-back to the middle of the defence.
Madrid, meanwhile, are now in excellent shape when it comes to injuries as Zidane watched his entire first-team squad take part in Friday's training session.
Eden Hazard, Mariano Diaz, Luka Jovic and Martin Odegaard are all over their recent problems, although it would be a surprise to see either of the four players handed starting roles.
Casemiro is also back after missing the clash with Athletic through suspension, and the Brazilian could replace Luka Modric in the middle of the park, with Federico Valverde potentially earning another start.
Marco Asensio and Rodrygo Goes are pushing for spots in the final third of the field and are likely to be handed plenty of minutes in the coming weeks, but Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez should keep their roles either side of Karim Benzema on Sunday.
Eibar possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Pozo, Arbilla, Bigas, Rodrigues; Inui, Exposito, Diop, Gil; Muto, Kike
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Mendy; Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos; Vazquez, Benzema, Junior
We say: Eibar 0-2 Real Madrid
Madrid will be feeling a lot better about themselves following a strong run of form, and we fully expect Zidane's side to pick up another three points on Sunday. Eibar have proved difficult to beat in recent weeks, but we are predicting a relatively routine success for the reigning champions here.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Real Madrid win with a probability of 53.66%. A draw had a probability of 25% and a win for Eibar had a probability of 21.29%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Madrid win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.45%) and 1-2 (9.46%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.83%), while for a Eibar win it was 1-0 (7.4%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Madrid would win this match.
