Real Madrid will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they travel to Levante on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane's side were held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu last weekend, but they are still top of the table, one point clear of the reigning champions Barcelona.
Match preview
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Levante have posted back-to-back 15th-place finishes since returning to La Liga for the 2017-18 campaign, and the Frogs are well placed to enjoy another season of top-flight Spanish football.
Indeed, a record of nine wins, two draws and 13 defeats has brought them 29 points, which is enough for 13th at this stage of the season. They are only eight points clear of the relegation zone, though, meaning that there is still work to do if they are to stay at the top level.
Levante will not exactly enter Saturday's match in the best form considering that they have lost five of their last six in the league, including a 2-1 loss at Villarreal last weekend.
That said, they have only lost two of their last five La Liga matches with Madrid, beating them in October 2018 in addition to picking up draws in February 2018 and September 2017.
Paco Lopez's side are certainly the underdogs heading into Saturday's contest but have shown over the last few years that they are capable of picking up results against the capital giants.
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Madrid welcomed Celta to the Bernabeu last weekend looking for their sixth straight league victory. It did appear that a penalty from Sergio Ramos would be securing three important points, but Santi Mina came up with a late leveller for the visitors in what proved to be a 2-2 draw.
Los Blancos are still top of the table with 53 points from their 24 matches but now sit just a single point above Barca, who have managed to win their last three during a tough period.
There is a fascinating title race developing in Spain, and Madrid will expect Barca to beat Eibar on Saturday afternoon, meaning that Zidane's side cannot really afford to slip up away at Levante.
The capital giants also have the small matter of a Champions League clash with Manchester City next week; the Premier League champions will head to the Bernabeu for the first leg of their last-16 tie on February 26, and it will be fascinating to see which side triumphs over the two legs.
Los Blancos must first take care of league business, though, and will be eyeing their 16th success of the season this weekend.
Levante La Liga form: LLLLWL
Levante form (all competitions): LLLLWL
Real Madrid La Liga form: WWWWWD
Real Madrid form (all competitions): WWWLWD
Team News
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Levante will again be without the services of Rober Pier, Cheick Doukoure, Nemanja Radoja, Gonzalo Melero and Hernani through injury, while Ruben Rochina is a doubt due to a muscular complaint.
Jose Luis Morales could replace Rochina in a wide position if the number 16 is ruled out, but there are unlikely to be changes in attack with Roger Marti and Borja Mayoral set to continue as the front two.
As for Madrid, Mariano Diaz and Marco Asensio remain unavailable for selection through injury, while Gareth Bale and Luka Jovic are both battling to overcome illness.
Indeed, neither Bale nor Jovic took part in Wednesday's training session due to stomach bugs, and it remains to be seen whether the pair are available for Saturday's contest.
Eden Hazard is again expected to start as he continues to build fitness ahead of the clash with City, while Ferland Mendy, Isco and Luka Modric are all pushing for spots in the side having been named on the bench against Celta last weekend.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Fernandez, Miramon, Postigo, Vezo, Clerc; Bardhi, Vukcevic, Campana, Morales; Marti, Mayoral
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Mendy; Valverde, Casemiro, Modric; Hazard, Benzema, Isco
We say: Levante 0-2 Real Madrid
Zidane will certainly have one eye on the Champions League clash with City, but Madrid should still have too much for Levante on Saturday; we expect the visitors to pick up all three points in fairly routine fashion.
Matt Law
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 win with a probability of 72.32%. A draw had a probability of 16.9% and a win for had a probability of 10.74%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 0-2 with a probability of 12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (10.22%) and 1-2 (9.43%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.03%), while for a win it was 1-0 (3.42%).
