Real Madrid will be bidding to return to winning ways in La Liga when they welcome an out-of-form Granada to Bernabeu on Sunday night.
Los Blancos are currently top of the table, four points clear of second-placed Sevilla in the race for the title, while Granada sit 14th, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Real Madrid remain the team to catch in La Liga, boasting 50 points from 22 matches, which has left them four points clear of second-placed Sevilla, while they are 10 clear of third-placed Real Betis and 14 clear of the reigning champions Atletico Madrid in fourth.
Arguably only Sevilla are capable of preventing Real Madrid from lifting the title this season, and head coach Carlo Ancelotti will not be panicking despite his side suffering two disappointing results in back-to-back games.
Indeed, Los Blancos had to come from two goals behind to rescue a point at home to Elche in La Liga on January 23 before losing 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday night.
The capital giants cannot afford to take their eye off the ball in La Liga, but they will certainly be thinking about the first leg of their Champions League last-16 contest away to Paris Saint-Germain on February 15, which is shaping up to be a fascinating fixture.
Real Madrid are unbeaten at Bernabeu in the league this season, winning seven and drawing four of their 11 matches, but Granada have only lost four of their 11 matches on their travels.
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The visitors will know that they face an uphill task to gain a positive result on Sunday, and they have not beaten Real Madrid in La Liga since February 2013, losing each of the last 13 league games between the two sides.
Granada will also enter this match off the back of successive defeats, going down 4-2 at Getafe on January 20 before suffering a 2-0 loss at home to Osasuna before the break.
Robert Moreno's side have won five, drawn nine and lost eight of their 22 league games this season to collect 24 points, which has left them in 14th spot in the table, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Granada had seemingly turned a corner after a difficult few months, but they have only picked up two points from their last four league matches and will certainly be wary of sliding down the division, particularly as their next three are against Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Villarreal.
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Team News
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Real Madrid should have Dani Carvajal back in the XI this weekend after a period out following a positive COVID-19 test, while Karim Benzema is expected to shake off a hamstring problem to lead the attack.
Mariano Diaz is also a doubt, while the home side will definitely be missing Ferland Mendy due to a muscular injury, in addition to key attacker Vinicius Junior, who is absent through suspension.
Ancelotti has decisions to make when it comes to the forward areas, with Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale options to start in the wide areas, but Marco Asensio and Rodrygo are likely to support Benzema at centre-forward.
Meanwhile, Mendy's absence should see Nacho continue in the middle of the defence, with David Alaba featuring at left-back for the league leaders.
As for Granada, Neyder Lozano and Santiago Arias are on the sidelines through injury, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape heading into the contest.
Jorge Molina and Luis Suarez are expected to start as the front two at Bernabeu, while Antonio Puertas, Luis Milla and Maxime Gonalons should all feature in midfield.
Quini is pushing to start at right-back but could again be edged out by Victor Diaz, while Darwin Machis and Carlos Neva likely to be among the substitutes for the visitors.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Alaba; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Asensio, Benzema, Rodrygo
Granada possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Diaz, Sanchez, Torrente, Neva; Collado, Milla, Gonalons, Puertas; Molina, Suarez
We say: Real Madrid 2-0 Granada
Real Madrid will be determined to return to winning ways after two disappointing results, and we are finding it difficult to back anything other than a home success here. Granada's recent record against Los Blancos is extremely poor, and the capital giants should have too much quality for their opponents.
Top tip
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 Real Madrid win with a probability of 65.46%. A draw had a probability of 19.4% and a win for Granada had a probability of 15.15%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Madrid win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.87%) and 1-0 (9.66%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.09%), while for a Granada win it was 1-2 (4.28%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Real Madrid would win this match.
