Real Madrid makes the trip to the Mendizorroza Stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz to square off against Deportivo Alaves On Matchday 20 of La Liga. The Whites are under immense pressure lately with their last victory coming way back on the 3rd of January when they defeated Celta Vigo.
Zidane’s side have since been axed from the Spanish Supercup and Copa del Rey with defeats to Athletic Bilbao and Alcoyano respectively. Apart from that, the Whites have sloppily dropped points against relegation-threatened sides like Elche and Osasuna.
Los Blancos will be making the trip for this Saturday evening kick-off without the services of Dani Carvajal and Rodrygo. The duo are nursing their respective injuries at the sick-bay. The availability of Sergio Ramos is also a doubt for this fixture who has picked up a knock recently. Zidane will also have to be cautious about deploying Toni Kroos who has already amassed 4 yellow cards this season.
Here’s how Real Madrid could take to the field on Saturday evening.
Real Madrid Predicted Line-Up Against Alaves
Real Madrid Predicted Line-Up Against Alaves
Defence
Thibaut Courtois is expected to make his return between the sticks for Real Madrid after watching his side get knocked out of the King’s Cup from the bench. The Belgian will be determined to get his side back on track with a solid performance in goal. Lucas Vasquez will occupy the right-back position in the absence of Dani Carvajal. With Sergio Ramos a doubt for this fixture, a centre back pairing of Eder Militao and Raphael Varane will take to the field at the Mendizorroza. Nacho Fernandez has contracted the coronavirus and will be unavailable for selection for up to two weeks. Ferland Mendy is expected to make a return to the line-up and will replace the out of favour Marcelo at the left-back slot.
Midfield
A full-strength midfield in the form of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric, will be taking to the field on Saturday. They are amongst one of Zidane’s most trusted troops and the French manager will burden the trio with lifting the side from this slump in form when they take command in the centre against Alaves. Real Madrid’s midfield has been under the scanner recently for not delivering the goods, and the trio will have the perfect opportunity to silence their critics when the Whites clash against the 16th positioned Spanish side.
Attack
Marco Asensio will start on the right-hand side after a string of impressive performances recently. Although, the Spaniard’s final product has been missing and he would want to work on this area of his game. Karim Benzema will lead the attacking line after coming off the bench in the cup encounter against Alcoyano. Eden Hazard will make his return into the starting eleven replacing Vinicus Jr. The Belgian will want to show the extra effort on the field after not finding his rhythm since his transfer from Chelsea.
Predicted Line-Up
