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Real Madrid will aim to get back on track in Spain’s top flight when they travel to Estadio de Vallecas on Monday evening to face Rayo Vallecano.
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Last weekend, La Liga leaders Los Blancos were restricted to a 1-1 draw by Girona, while Rayo secured an astonishing 1-0 victory against Sevilla to move into ninth place in the rankings.
Match preview
Los Franjirrojos have won five, drawn three and lost four of their 12 league games this season to collect 18 points, which has left them in ninth position in the table.
Rayo will bring a four-game unbeaten run into this contest, meanwhile, which has included victories in their last two fixtures at home to Cadiz and away to Sevilla.
Rayo will now be looking to record a third straight league victory on Monday night, but they lost both La Liga fixtures with Los Blancos during the 2021-22 campaign, including a 1-0 defeat at Estadio de Vallecas.
As it stands, the gap from first to second is one point, but Barcelona could be top by the time that this match kicks off, with the Catalan outfit in action against Almeria on Saturday night.
Los Blancos will enter this match off the back of a win, though, as they thumped Celtic 5-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday evening to secure first position in their section.
As mentioned, Los Blancos beat Rayo in both league games between the two sides last term, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Estadio de Vallecas in April 2019, with Adri Embarba’s penalty securing all three points for Los Franjirrojos.
Team News
Rayo will again be missing Andres Martin due to a shoulder problem, while Jose Angel Pozo is also out and Raul de Tomas is still unregistered, but Radamel Falcao has a chance of recovering from a muscular problem.
The home side will also be boosted by the returns of Randy Nteka and Oscar Trejo following their suspensions last time out, and the latter could come into the starting XI.
Trejo for Unai Lopez might be the only change from the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Sevilla, with Sergio Camello again set to lead the attack here.
As for Real Madrid, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eden Hazard both missed out against Celtic in the Champions League, but the pair are now back in training and have been named in the squad for this match.
Tchouameni is expected to come back into the side, with Toni Kroos out through suspension, which could also open the door for Eduardo Camavinga to come into the midfield.
Karim Benzema is unavailable due to a muscular issue, though, which should see Rodrygo play through the middle.
Possible starting lineup:
| Rayo Vallecano | Real Madrid |
|---|---|
| Dimitrievski, Stole | Courtois, Thibaut |
| Balliu, Ivan | Alaba, David |
| Garcia, Francisco | Carvajal, Dani |
| Catena, Alejandro | Mendy, Ferland |
| Lejeune, Florian | Militao, Eder |
| Garcia, Alvaro | Kroos, Toni |
| Palazon, Isi | Valverde, Federico |
| Valentín, Óscar | Modric, Luka |
| Ciss, Pathe | Tchouameni, Aurelien |
| Camello, Sergio | Junior, Vinicius |
| Trejo, Oscar | Rodrygo |
Probabilities
Vallecano = 21.4%
Draw = 19.0%
Real Madrid = 59.6%
Prediction
Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Real Madrid
Where to watch live match??
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