La Liga: Undermanned Real Madrid Should Cruise Past Cadiz With Ease

Real Madrid vs Cadiz

Real Madrid are aiming to widen their gap over everyone in the La Liga table as they’ll host Cadiz this Sunday at the Bernabeu.

Los Blancos – who are fresh from a vital derby victory against fourth-placed Atletico Madrid –  own a sizeable advantage over everyone since they have 42 points, while second-placed Sevilla and third-placed Real Betis have 34 and 33 respectively and El Clasico rivals Barcelona are way below at eighth with 24.

Their visitors in Cadiz, meanwhile, are at 18^th place and they’re keen on moving up to keep their Spanish top-flight aspirations alive following a bad stretch of La Liga 2021 results.

It’s been a tough campaign so far for Alvaro Cervera’s men and a victory here would give them a huge boost.

It can be noted that Cadiz claimed an upset win against Real Madrid in their first meeting last season. However, the pre-match SBOTOP betting odds don’t see it as a likely outcome this time around.

Talking Points

Real Madrid missing key men due to COVID-19

Los Blancos are about to face their first real challenge this season as they’ll have to cope without several players in these next few days.

Just like in other professional sports teams all over the world, Real Madrid were hit by COVID-19 as Luka Modric, Marcelo, Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale, Andriy Lunin, Rodrygo, and assistant coach Davide Ancelotti have all tested positive.

With all them undergoing self-isolation, head coach Carlo Ancelotti will have to play his veterans more than he wants to since they must continue to get results to increase their title chances.

Karim Benzema’s steely focus and goalscoring prowess are going to be needed once more by Los Blancos and he’ll be joined up front by Vinicius Junior – who is also banging in form.

The wildcard for Los Blancos is their right wing position vacated by Marco Asensio, leaving an opportunity for someone like Eden Hazard.

Since joining Real Madrid from Chelsea back in 2019, the Belgian forward has yet to maximise his time at the Bernabeu since he has been injury-prone.

Hazard is still garnering attention in the transfer market despite having yet to score a goal this season. However, proving his worth at Real Madrid will be his main focus for now.

Cadiz eager to move out of danger

Alvaro Cervera’s side has failed to build on their successful top-flight campaign last season. They’ve lost eight times already this term, which is the second-highest total among La Liga clubs.

Defence has been the main problem for Los Piratas since they’ve conceded 12 goals in their last four and that must be fixed sooner than later.

They would’ve secured their third victory in the last time out vs. Granada. However, their inability to close out games has also been their Achilles heel.

Santiago Arzamendia gave Los Piratas the lead on 32 minutes and it looked like they were about to claim the victory, up until when Jorge Molina found the equaliser at the 88^th-minute.

To make matters worse, winger Salvador Sanchez Ponce was shown a second booking in added time and Cadiz lost their chance of taking all three points.

History

Since Cadiz aren’t a regular fixture in La Liga, their meetings against Real Madrid have come few and far between.

Los Blancos own this particular matchup with four wins out of five, with Los Piratas winning the other one.

Cadiz dealt Real Madrid their first defeat in the 2020/21 season as Choco Lozano gave them the lead for good at the 16^th minute. Los Blancos had multiple chances to score as they’ve dominated late. However, an equaliser never materialised for them.

The return meeting in April, meanwhile, was a whole different story as Real Madrid crushed them with a 3-0 tally after Karim Benzema (brace) and Alvaro Odriozola scored three times in just a span of 10 minutes.

Betting Tip

	Real Madrid vs Cadiz	Real Madrid Asian Handicap -1.75 @ 1.93
	December 20, 04:00 (GMT+8)

The La Liga 2021 odds pitch for another Real Madrid victory this weekend. Los Blancos are installed at 1.25 to win, while Cadiz are the massive underdogs at 10.00 and a draw is at 6.00 in the 1X2 market.

Cadiz aren’t to be taken lightly since they’ve proven that they can give Real Madrid problems and they can certainly do it again given the latter’s depleted rotation.

However, Real Madrid have better depth compared to their visitors and that alone should give them the edge in collecting all three points, which will be helpful for their ongoing title tilt.

 

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