Levante vs Real Madrid 23/02/20

23 February 2020

Out-of-form Levante face a formidable challenge as La Liga (LL) table-toppers Real Madrid arrive at the Estadi Ciutat de València.

It’s so far been a year to forget for Levante, who have suffered five defeats in six league outings since the turn of 2020 (W1). Curiously, four of those five failures have produced a single-goal margin, with three yielding the same 2-1 scoreline. The hosts will hardly manage to overcome a stuttering start to the new calendar year when they take on a Real Madrid side they’ve lost to in five of their previous six top-flight home H2Hs (D1). Yet, all six of those H2Hs have featured over 2.5 goals, with five seeing both teams hit the net. In turn, Estadi Ciutat de València has recently been a venue of entertainment, as four of Levante’s last six LL fixtures here have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, a shock 2-2 home draw with Celta last time out has brought Real’s five-game winning LL run to a halt, allowing Barcelona to cut down the gap to just one point. Also, it was the first time since a 4-2 home win over Granada back in October that Los Blancos conceded over 1.5 goals in a league match, as they remain the best LL defense (16 goals allowed). Zinedine Zidane’s men are also the most successful away side in Spain, having returned 25 points from 12 LL road trips so far this season (W7, D4, L1). Importantly, the Madrid giants are unbeaten in seven consecutive league away games, winning the last three. Impressively, four of their seven LL road victories have yielded a clean sheet, with 57.14% producing a multiple-goal margin.