Big Game Focus: Valencia v Real Madrid

Valencia and Real Madrid meet tonight in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup. Read our preview to the match below. You can bet on our tips here.

The first semi-final of the 2019 Spanish Super Cup pits last season’s Copa del Rey winners, Valencia, against world giants Real Madrid. These two sides arrives at the King Abdullah Sport City in Saudi Arabia in good form, and know that another strong performance could see them through to Sunday’s final.

That Copa del Rey triumph was Valencia’s first trophy win since 2008. Los Che have also enjoyed back-to-back top four finishes in La Liga, and draws with Real Madrid and Atletico this season (along with wins at Chelsea and Ajax) have shown that they have what it takes to disrupt Europe’s biggest sides.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are enjoying a 14-game unbeaten run across all competitions. Zinedine Zidane’s side missed out on a major honour in 2019 for the first time in four years. Starting the new decade with a trophy would be a big boost to a side still searching for silverware since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The first step for Madrid would be victory tonight, but Valencia don’t like to make things easy for their opponents.

Betting tips

Real Madrid have not lost in any competition since October and come into this match on the back of a 3-0 win over Getafe. Zidane’s side have only suffered two defeats all season. Furthermore, Valencia have not beaten them away from the Mestalla since 2008. Real Madrid have lost just one of their last five games in the Super Cup and you can back them to win this one at odds of 1.75.

Both of these teams have seen Over 2.5 Goals in four of their last six games away from home. The same has happened in eight of their last ten clashes with one another. Bet on Over 2.5 Goals at odds of 1.65.

Real Madrid have scored in each of their last 15 games against Valencia, while their opponents have been on the scoresheet in 13 of those. Get odds of 1.65 on Both Teams to Score tonight.

Team news

Valencia will not be able to call upon the services of forwards Rodrigo and Goncalo Guedes so Kevin Gameiro, who made his return from injury at the weekend, is in line for a rare start.

Zidane has his own problems to contend with in attack. Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale have not travelled, while Lucas Vazquez and James Rodriguez will not start.

Possible line-ups

Valence: Domenech, Wass, Gabriel, Garay, Gaya, Parejo, Kondogbia, Soler, Cheryshev, Gomez, Gameiro

Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Varane, Militao, Mendy, Valverde, Kroos, Modric, Rodrygo, Vinicius, Jovic