Valencia vs Real Madrid 09/01/20

9 January 2020

Valencia will take on a severely weakened Real Madrid side in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final showdown at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah this midweek.

Valencia have racked up a seven-game unbeaten run ahead of this meeting (W4, D3), scoring precisely one goal per match in four of their last competitive outings. Interestingly, while all three of their draws during that seven-game sequence saw both teams score, three of their four successes in that period have come via a single-goal margin. Also, six of their last eight competitive matches have seen both teams hit the net, with four of them producing over 2.5 goals. A similar scenario might take place here too, as 13 of their previous 14 competitive H2Hs with Real witnessed both teams score, with 11 of their featuring three or more goals. Valencia’s inability to keep a blank sheet might be setting them back in their efforts to reach the Super Cup final, as they’ve failed to shut their opponents out in 14 of their last 17 competitive fixtures.

As for Real, they snapped a three-game winless streak (D3) with a comfortable 3-0 away win over Getafe last time out, which was the third consecutive time that they’ve kept a clean sheet. But, for Los Blancos, goals have been in short supply recently, as they’ve netted one goal or less in three of their last four competitive outings. That is a sharp contrast to their free-scoring form since early November. Zinedine Zidane’s men have bagged 2+ match goals in eight of 11 games since the beginning of November, although they’ve failed to find the net in the first half on five of those occasions. Zidane’s men will draw inspiration from their 14-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W9, D5) to boost their confidence in an attempt to halt a two-game winless streak in H2Hs with Valencia (D1, L1).