Espanyol vs Real Madrid 29/06/20

29 June 2020

La Liga table-toppers Real Madrid travel to the RCDE Stadium to take on rock-bottom Espanyol, looking to post a fourth successive win in their top-flight H2Hs. 

The hosts have struggled to find their rhythm since the league’s restart, failing to pick up a win in three post-pandemic La Liga fixtures (D1, L2), two of which also saw them draw a blank. As a consequence, Espanyol trail 17th-placed Eibar by eight points ahead of the kick-off and are in a desperate need to at least avoid defeat here to preserve their hopes of avoiding relegation. Although they’ve lost just once in their last seven league home matches (W2, D4), the ‘Periquitos’ face a daunting task of maintaining a good home form as they take on a side they’ve managed to beat only once in their 11 previous top-flight home H2Hs (D1, L9). Interestingly, nine of those ten results (win/loss) saw the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid take the field after racking up four consecutive La Liga triumphs, all of which saw Los Blancos score the opening goal and net at least two in total. The visitors have also won four of their last six league away fixtures (L2), with each of those results witnessing the winner on the day find the net on or beyond the 70-minute mark. Indeed, far more comfortable in the second half of play, Zinedine Zidane’s men have netted 62.5% (15) of 24 La Liga away goals scored after the break, hitting the net at least once inside the final 15 minutes in six of 15 road trips this season.