Real Madrid will welcome Barcelona at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Saturday evening with both teams desperate to secure all three points in this edition of El Clasico. Los Blancos are coming into this game on the back of an impressive 3-1 win at home against Liverpool, so their confidence will be sky high this weekend. Similarly, the Catalans also picked up a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Valladolid which has put them in a great position to challenge for the league title in the final few weeks of this campaign.
Talking Tactics
Zinedine Zidane is expected to opt for a 4-3-3 formation and will instruct his players to control the midfield battle so that they can try to expose the away team’s defensive weaknesses on the counter.
Ronald Koeman will stick with his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation and could ask his men to enjoy more possession and create some clear-cut chances to win this crucial top-of-the-table battle versus their Madrid counterparts.
Team News
Real Madrid
Raphael Varane is unlikely to feature in this contest after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Otherwise, Zidane has no new injury concerns to cope with ahead of this game.
Real Madrid Predicted XI
Courtois, Vazquez, Militao, Nacho, Mendy, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
Barcelona
Neto, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto are all major doubts for this match. However, Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutinho remain sidelined due to injury.
Barcelona Predicted XI
ter Stegen, Mingueza, de Jong, Lenglet, Dest, Busquets, Pedri, Alba, Messi, Griezmann, Dembele
Key Men
Real Madrid
Vinicius Junior managed to score a brace in midweek, so he will once again be Madrid’s main weapon down the left flank. The collective performance of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro in midfield could very well end up determining the fate of this game.
Barcelona
Lionel Messi will once again be Koeman’s best hope for a goal. Both Pedri and Sergio Busquets need to have a good game if the Catalan outfit are to come out on top in this clash this Saturday evening.
Odds
Barca are 5/4 favorites to win this Clasico while the draw has been priced at 14/5 by the bookmakers. Los Blancos are 19/10 underdogs to claim maximum points at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano this weekend.
