Real Madrid vs Real Valladolid 01/10/20

01 October 2020

Real Madrid begin their La Liga home campaign against a Real Valladolid side they’ve beaten in nine of their last 11 top-flight H2Hs held at the Santiago Bernabeu (D2).

‘Los Blancos’ have managed to overcome a dismal goalless away draw with Real Sociedad in their La Liga curtain-raiser, pulling off a stunning second-half comeback to beat Real Betis 3-2 on the road last time out. Real Madrid will be looking to build on that when they take on a side they’ve won against in nine of their previous 11 top-flight H2H meetings (D2). Interestingly, six of those nine triumphs have yielded a goal margin of over 1.5, which was the case in the majority (66.67%) of the hosts’ La Liga home wins back in 2019/20 (10/15). Remarkably, Zinedine Zidane’s men finished the last season as the only side to avoid defeat on home soil (W15, D4), conceding a league joint-low 11 home goals.

Meanwhile, the visitors have yet to pick up a league victory this term (D2, L1), with all three of their opening La Liga matches featuring under 2.5 goals. A 2-0 away defeat to Betis on Matchday 2 has brought Valladolid’s winless La Liga run on the road to five (D1, L4), last season included. Furthermore, a lack of firepower up front saw ‘Los Pucelanos’ draw a blank in 42.11% (eight) of their 19 league trips back in 2019/20, netting the division’s third joint-worst average of 0.73 goals per La Liga trip. Sergio Gonzalez can hardly hope to see his team improving that aspect of the game at the Bernabeu, where his the ‘Blanquivioletas’ have failed to get on the scoresheet in two of their last three top-flight trips.