Real Madrid will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they resume their 2019-20 campaign with a home match against Eibar on Sunday night.
Los Blancos are currently second in Spain's top flight, two points off leaders Barcelona, while Eibar sit 16th in the table, just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Just two points separates second-placed Madrid from leaders Barcelona as things stand, although the gap at the summit could become five as the reigning champions will fancy their chances of overcoming struggling Mallorca when they take to the field on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane's side have dropped points in 11 of their 27 league matches this season but are very much in the title argument, largely due to their strong defensive form, conceding just 19 times in Spain's top flight, which is the best record at this stage.
Madrid will play their final six home league matches of the season inside their training ground - the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium - and it remains to be seen what sort of impact that might have on the opposition.
Los Blancos have actually only won one of their last four in the league; they beat Barcelona 2-0 in El Clasico on March 1 but suffered a 2-1 loss at Real Betis in their final match before the lockdown period.
There are certain to be twists and turns in the title race over the next few weeks, but Madrid arguably have the better run-in, and the club will be determined to win La Liga for just the second time since 2012.
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Eibar, meanwhile, have consolidated their spot in La Liga over the last five seasons and have finished ninth and 12th respectively in their last two campaigns at this level of football.
The Basque outfit face a battle to secure their spot in Spain's top flight for the 2020-21 campaign, though, as they are currently 16th in the table, just two points outside of the relegation zone.
Only Mallorca (16) and Espanyol (15) have lost more La Liga games than Eibar (14) this season, and a trip to Madrid is not quite what the supporters would have wanted as their side are in need of a victory.
Jose Luis Mendilibar's side have lost four of their last five in Spain's top flight, including back-to-back home defeats to Mallorca and Sociedad before the action was halted in March.
Eibar also suffered a 4-0 defeat when they welcomed Madrid in the reverse match in November.
Real Madrid La Liga form: WWDLWL
Real Madrid form (all competitions): WDLLWL
Eibar La Liga form: DLLWLL
Team News
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Madrid have been able to recover both Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard while the action has been on hold, and the latter is expected to go straight into the starting XI on Sunday night.
Asensio - out since pre-season with a serious knee injury - could be on the bench, though, with Nacho and Luka Jovic the team's only two confirmed absentees for this match.
Federico Valverde could get the nod over Luka Modric in midfield, while it would not be a surprise to see Isco feature in an attacking position, potentially behind a front two of Hazard and Karim Benzema.
Vinicius Junior is another option in an attacking area, but Gareth Bale is unlikely to be handed a starting role due to his struggles during the 2019-20 campaign.
As for Eibar, Gonzalo Escalante is suspended due to the red card that he picked up against Sociedad, while experienced defender Ivan Ramis remains on the treatment table.
Paulo Oliveira is back from a ban of his own, though, and should return to the back four.
There are expected to be changes from the team that started against Sociedad with Charles and Sergi Enrich in line to feature, while Sebastian Cristoforo could earn a spot in the middle of the park.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Mendy; Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos; Isco; Hazard, Benzema
Eibar possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Arbilla, Oliveira, Bigas, Cote; Leon, Diop, Cristoforo, Orellana; Enrich, Charles
We say: Real Madrid 3-0 Eibar
Madrid could be five points off the top of the table by the time that they take to the field on Sunday and therefore a positive result is likely to be imperative. Hazard's expected return is big news, and we fancy Los Blancos to pick up all three points in comfortable fashion due to their superior quality.
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 64.09%. A draw had a probability of 20.2% and a win for Eibar had a probability of 15.66%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Madrid win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.51%) and 2-1 (9.91%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.58%), while for a Eibar win it was 0-1 (4.64%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 6.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Madrid would win this match.
