Real Madrid will be aiming to make it back-to-back La Liga victories when they continue their 2020-21 campaign at home to Getafe on Tuesday night.
Zinedine Zidane's side will enter the match off the back of a 2-1 win at basement side Huesca on Saturday, while Getafe, who have struggled for consistency this season, suffered a 3-0 loss at Sevilla.
Match preview
© Reuters
Madrid reclaimed second position from Barcelona on Saturday as the capital giants recorded a 2-1 win at Huesca, with Raphael Varane scoring twice for the reigning champions to secure an important three points.
Zidane's side had entered the contest off the back of a run of three defeats in their last four matches, but they moved above Barca with the victory and also closed the gap on league leaders Atletico Madrid to seven points.
Atletico now have two games in hand over their rivals, though, starting with Monday's clash with Celta Vigo, and it is difficult to imagine Los Blancos being in a position where they can seriously challenge for the title heading into the final straight.
Madrid are relatively safe in the top four, sitting seven points clear of fifth-placed Villarreal, but they are only a point above third-placed Sevilla, while Barca will have the chance to move above them once again when the Catalan club face Real Betis on Sunday night.
Zidane's side are struggling to keep players fit at the moment, meanwhile, which is a concern ahead of the first leg of their last-16 Champions League clash with Atalanta BC towards the end of the month.
© Reuters
Getafe, as mentioned, were well beaten at Sevilla on Saturday, with Munir El Haddadi, Papu Gomez and Youssef En-Nesyri scoring for the Europa League holders to secure a three-goal win at Estadio Ramon.
Jose Bordalas's side have now lost 5-1 to Atletico and 3-0 to Sevilla in their last two away matches and face another tough examination against the reigning champions on Tuesday night.
Getafe finished eighth in La Liga last term but have found it difficult to put together a consistent run of form during the 2020-21 campaign and currently sit down in 12th position in the table.
The capital club are currently six points behind eighth-placed Granada, and they have only won six of their 21 league matches this season, which is not enough for a team looking to sneak into the Europa League spots.
Getafe, who are also the joint-lowest scorers in La Liga this season with just 17 goals, have struggled to match Madrid in recent history and have failed to beat them in the league since February 2008.
Real Madrid La Liga form: DWDWLW
Real Madrid form (all competitions): DLLWLW
Getafe La Liga form: LWWLDL
Getafe form (all competitions): LWWLDL
Team News
© Reuters
Madrid will again be without a number of first-team players for Tuesday's contest, with Rodrygo Goes, Federico Valverde and Eden Hazard all definitely out, while Sergio Ramos underwent a knee operation on Saturday and is unlikely to be unavailable for selection until April.
Lucas Vazquez, Dani Carvajal and Isco are also all doubts, while Alvaro Odriozola was injured against Huesca and now faces a battle to prove his fitness in time for the match.
Eder Militao will be back from a suspension to ease Madrid's concerns at the back, but Zidane has a problem in midfield as Toni Kroos's booking against Huesca means that the German is suspended.
Marcelo is an option to start in midfield but 20-year-old Antonio Blanco, who has been on the bench twice in the league this season, is being tipped to make his debut in the middle of the park.
As for Getafe, Mauro Arambarri will be available, having served a suspension against Sevilla, but Djene Dakonam is banned due to the red card that he picked up on Saturday.
Head coach Bordalas is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes for Tuesday's clash, but Erick Cabaco is in line for a start due to Dakonam's absence.
Arambarri could replace David Timor in the middle of the park, meanwhile, but Jaime Mata, Carles Alena and Marc Cucurella should again feature for the away team in attacking positions.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Nacho, Varane, Militao, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Blanco; Vinicius, Benzema, Asensio
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Yanez; Suarez, Cabaco, Chakla, Nyom; Hernandez, Maksimovic, Arambarri, Alena, Cucurella; Mata
We say: Real Madrid 1-0 Getafe
The fact that Madrid will be missing so many key players for this match means that Getafe will be eyeing a shock result, but the visitors are not currently in the best of form. We are expecting a tight and cagey affair in the Spanish capital but believe that Zidane's side will just have enough to pick up an important three points.
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 62.82%. A draw had a probability of 21.4% and a win for Getafe had a probability of 15.81%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Madrid win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.98%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.57%) and 2-1 (9.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.16%), while for a Getafe win it was 0-1 (5.26%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Madrid would win this match.
