An important LaLiga match will be played at Benito Villamarin Stadium in Seville on Sunday evening, as sixth-placed Real Betis host fifth-placed Real Madrid. This fixture produced immense entertainment last season, Real Madrid won it 5-3 with a double from Marco Asensio and goals from Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. That result gave the Blancos revenge after Betis had beaten them 1-0 in the reverse fixture with a stoppage-time goal from Antonio Sanabria. Overall, Real Madrid have won four of the last six direct matches.
Real Betis are having another solid season after having finished the last campaign in sixth place, it looks like they are capable of another European qualification. However, they have not found their best form after the Christmas break, they started the new year with a 2-1 defeat at last-placed Huesca and then got held to a goalless draw at home by Real Sociedad in the Spanish Cup. Takashi Inui is unavailable for Sunday's match because he is on international duty at the Asian Cup, while Sidnei is ruled out through injury. Junior Firpo had returned to training but he might not be ready for first-team football yet.
Real Madrid are having a terrible season by their standards, even though they did grab some silverware already as they won the Club World Cup in December. However, the return to Spain was quite rough, they got held to a 2-2 draw at Villarreal on January 3rd and then lost 2-0 at home against Real Sociedad. They did record a 3-0 Copa del Rey victory over Leganes this week, but they really need to improve their league form as leaders Barcelona are ten points ahead. Lucas Vazquez is suspended for this match, first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is injured, along with Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale. New signing Brahim Diaz made his debut in the cup match this week and could play again on Sunday.
Probable line-ups:
Real Betis: Lopez - Mandi, Bartra, Feddal - Francis, Guardado, Lo Celso, Carvalho, Tello - Canales - Sanabria
Real Madrid: Navas - Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo - Modric, Casemiro, Ceballos - Isco, Benzema, Junior
My prediction: 2-2 draw, Real Madrid don't seem capable of beating a strong team like Betis.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Betis win - 3.25 Draw - 3.75 Madrid win - 2.10
Dzile10
5 years ago
Madrid is having problem to play without Ronaldo, they need his goals
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sharpe
5 years ago
On a paper this one has to be a really tough game for Real M against a igh flying opponent this season. Saying that though I think there's been a signs of improvement in Madrid's last game in Copa del Rey and I think sooner or later the Spanish grand would improve in form drastically...and in fact start to win their games. So...
On a paper this one has to be a really tough game for Real M against a igh flying opponent this season. Saying that though I think there's been a signs of improvement in Madrid's last game in Copa del Rey and I think sooner or later the Spanish grand would improve in form drastically...and in fact start to win their games. So I'm tend to take a gamble here...probably...1-2 for the away side is my guess.
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