Real Madrid will go in search of their fifth straight La Liga victory on Sunday night when they travel to the Mestalla to face Valencia.
Los Blancos are currently second in Spain's top flight - level on points with leaders Barcelona - while Valencia sit eighth having picked up 26 points from their first 16 matches of the campaign.
Match preview
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Valencia will be feeling good about themselves heading into this weekend's contest when considering that they booked their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League with a 1-0 victory at Ajax on Tuesday night.
Los Che also triumphed away at Chelsea during the group stages of the European competition, while they will enter this game off the back of a three-match winning run having also been victorious in their last two league outings.
Indeed, Albert Celades's side have beaten Villarreal and Levante in their last two domestic fixtures to move into eighth position in the table with a record of seven wins, five draws and four defeats.
Los Che are only one point off fourth-placed Real Sociedad, although they are eight behind second-placed Madrid, who alongside Barca have a game in hand on the rest of the division.
Valencia recorded a 2-1 win when they last welcomed Los Blancos to the Mestalla in April, although Zinedine Zidane's side have been victorious in three of their last five meetings, including a 4-1 success at the home of the six-time La Liga champions in January 2018.
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Like Valencia, Madrid will also enter this match off the back of a positive European result, having recorded a 3-1 win away to Club Brugge on Wednesday night. That said, Zidane's team had already booked their spot in the knockout round of the competition ahead of the mid-week contest.
Los Blancos are on a bit of a roll at the moment considering that they have not lost in any competition since going down at Mallorca on October 19. Since then, they have played six times in Spain's top flight and picked up five wins, including victories in each of their last four matches.
Since the goalless draw at home to Real Betis on November 2, the capital giants have overcome Eibar, Real Sociedad, Alaves and Espanyol to ensure that they would keep pace with Barca.
The two Clasico rivals have 34 points from their 15 league matches this season, and both will be desperate to pick up another three points this weekend ahead of El Clasico at Camp Nou on December 18.
Madrid will be full of confidence having won their last four on the road in all competitions, although the fact that they will have had slightly less time to recover than Valencia could yet play a part this weekend.
Valencia La Liga form: DWWLWW
Valencia form (all competitions): WLDWWW
Real Madrid La Liga competition form: WDWWWW
Real Madrid form (all competitions): WWDWWW
Team News
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Valencia have a fairly substantial injury list heading into this weekend's contest, with the likes of Cristiano Piccini, Goncalo Guedes, Denis Cheryshev, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Maxi Gomez still on the sidelines.
Jasper Cillessen is also a huge doubt as he battles to recover from the calf injury that he picked up last weekend, while Kevin Gameiro could miss out having suffered a muscular issue against Ajax.
Manu Vallejo is in line to start due to the home side's volume of injuries in the final third, although the likes of Ferran Torres, Carlos Soler and Dani Parejo will be fit to take to the field on Sunday night.
Like Valencia, Madrid will also be far from full strength this weekend due to injury and suspension.
Ferland Mendy's red card against Espanyol makes him unavailable, meaning that the visitors have a problem at left-back as Marcelo is on the sidelines with a calf problem.
Eden Hazard, Lucas Vazquez, James Rodriguez and Marco Asensio remain unavailable for selection, while it seems unlikely that key midfielder Casemiro will be risked as a booking for the Brazilian against Valencia would rule him out of next week's Clasico at Camp Nou.
Gareth Bale is in line to feature having shaken off a muscular issue, though, while Nacho could make his first appearance since the start of October after overcoming a knee injury.
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Domenech; Wass, Garay, Gabriel, Gaya; Soler, Coquelin, Parejo; Vallejo, Rodrigo, Torres
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Nacho; Kroos, Modric, Valverde; Bale, Benzema, Rodrygo
We say: Valencia 1-1 Real Madrid
Valencia will enter the match off the back of an impressive run of form, and despite the hosts being without a number of key players, we fancy them to hold Madrid to a low-scoring draw at the Mestalla.
Matt Law
