Real Madrid will be looking to make it six La Liga victories in a row when they continue their 2020-21 campaign away to Elche on Wednesday night.
Los Blancos have joined league leaders Atletico Madrid on 32 points courtesy of an impressive run of form, while Elche currently sit 16th in the table, having picked up 15 points from their 13 matches.
Match preview
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Elche have won three, drawn six and lost four of their 13 league matches this season, picking up 15 points to occupy 16th position, just one point clear of the relegation zone.
Los Franjiverdes, who secured a return to this level of football by coming through the 2019-20 Segunda Division playoffs, will enter Wednesday's clash off the back of a 2-2 draw with Osasuna on December 22.
Elche have not actually won in Spain's top flight since October 23, but they do have two games in hand on a number of teams around them and therefore their position in the table is far from disastrous.
Jorge Almiron's side are certainly capable of causing Madrid problems in this game, but they have only won one of their seven home La Liga matches this term and will be taking on a Los Blancos side that boast the best away record in the league, having picked up 17 points from their eight fixtures on their travels.
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Madrid, as mentioned, have won each of their last five in La Liga during an excellent run, beating Sevilla, Atletico, Athletic Bilbao, Eibar and Granada since the end of November.
Zinedine Zidane's side are now second in Spain's top flight, level on points with leaders Atletico, although the team at the top of the division have two games in hand and are therefore in a very strong position.
Los Blancos have had their issues this season, dropping points in five of their 15 league matches, but they are now in a relatively strong position in the division and managed to book their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League courtesy of a 2-0 success over Borussia Monchengladbach on December 9.
Madrid, as mentioned, have the best away record in La Liga this season, while they are currently eight points clear of fifth-placed Barcelona, which is a healthy advantage over their bitter rivals at this stage.
Zidane's side have actually won their last six matches in all competitions and are now entering a run of fixtures in the league where they will expect to continue their impressive run.
Elche La Liga form: DDDLLD
Elche form (all competitions): DDLWLD
Real Madrid La Liga form: LWWWWW
Real Madrid form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Team News
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Elche could again be without the services of Omenuke Mfulu against Madrid, while Diego Gonzalez is an injury doubt, meaning that Dani Calvo could earn another start in a defensive area.
Almiron has options for change, with Victor Rodriguez, Pere Milla and Nino all available, but the manager is expected to keep faith with the majority of the XI that started against Osasuna.
Lucas Boye should again get the nod over Guido Carrillo in the centre-forward position, while Raul Guti could earn a spot in the middle of the park.
As for Madrid, Zidane's squad is in excellent shape at the moment, with only Rodrygo Goes, who has a hamstring problem, missing from Sunday's training session.
Eden Hazard made the bench against Granada and should again be included in the squad for this match, while Luka Modric is likely to return, having overcome the problem that kept him out of the team's last contest.
Vinicius Junior could be handed a start alongside Lucas Vazquez and Karim Benzema in the final third of the field, but the back four and goalkeeper are expected to be unchanged on Wednesday night.
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Barragan, Verdu, Calvo, Josema; Guti, Marcone, Morente; Fidel, Boye, Josan
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Vazquez, Benzema, Vinicius
We say: Elche 0-2 Real Madrid
Elche have only lost four of their 13 league matches this term, but it is difficult to back against a Madrid win on Wednesday evening; Zidane's side appear to have overcome their early-season troubles, and we fancy the champions to pick up a relatively comfortable victory in this game.
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 71.98%. A draw had a probability of 17.7% and a win for Elche had a probability of 10.31%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Madrid win was 0-2 with a probability of 13.28%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (11.99%) and 0-3 (9.81%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.41%), while for a Elche win it was 1-0 (3.8%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 8.4% likelihood.
