La Liga: Real Madrid Visit Eibar With a Win In Sight

Eibar vs Real Madrid

Defending La Liga champions Real Madrid pay a visit at the Municipal de Ipurua as they chase for the fifth consecutive victory in all competitions.

Los Blancos take on Eibar for this upcoming matchday and the visitors are expected to bring their A-game since there will be high stakes involved.

Zinedine Zidane’s side is currently on a three-way tie with Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad with 26 points. As of the moment they are third due to goal difference, but that could change should they take care of business.

However, while most pundits see this as a sure-win for Real Madrid, one can’t simply overlook the run that Eibar have built lately.

Los Armeros have yet to be defeated in over two months, which is quite an achievement for a typical cellar dweller, and they will come in here salivating for an upset.

Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men hold the solo spot at 12^th with 15 points off the bounce, and they have built momentum with a recent victory over Racing Rioja in the Copa del Rey last Thursday.

This figures to be a fun match ahead for SBOTOP football fans, so read on below as we examine both of these clubs with this match preview.

opacity 0

CLICK HERE
TO SEE UPDATED ODDS

Premier League

Talking points

Can Eibar show that they’re no fluke?

Since the start of November, Los Armeros have gathered decent La Liga 2020 results and they are looking for more points in their 2020/21 campaign.

Eibar have drawn four of their last five, with three of them against teams who are placed above them on the table.

They defeated Real Betis convincingly, 2-0, and they kept clean sheets versus Getafe and Valencia.

They also held Real Sociedad 1-1 in their previous La Liga fixture when Sergi Enrich scored the equaliser during the 65^th minute.

Sergi Enrich and Kike — two of Eibar’s reliable forwards over the years — continue to lead the Jose Luis Mendilibar-mentored squad as they have combined for four of their nine goals so far.

Unfortunately for Eibar, they will be missing several key players ahead of this contest.

One of their leading scorers in Esteban Burgos will serve his one-game ban due to the booking he received against Real Sociedad.

Their defence will be severely handicapped as Cote, Quique Gonzalez, and Rober Correa are still recovering from their respective injuries.

Real Madrid are firing on all cylinders

Real Madrid are looking to get back the top spot on the La Liga table — Zinedine Zidane on the sidelines during Real Madrid’s clash against Athletic Bilbao

It wasn’t too long ago when Real Madrid fans wanted to see Zinedine Zidane out as their form was slipping at the time.

But after that early-season blip, the Frenchman has guided his team to the cusp of a resurgence since they are in contention both in La Liga and Champions League.

A big part of their recent success is because their injury list has eased down.

Eden Hazard, Martin Odegaard, Mariano Diaz, Luka Jovic, and Fede Valverde are all in better shape, which makes Los Blancos a tougher and deeper squad.

Karim Benzema is finally regaining his talismanic form, while Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior, Lucas Vasquez, and Rodrygo have made strong cases to start given their recent performances.

Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Ferland Mendy, and Sergio Ramos are all expected to lead the defence for Los Blancos, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois manning between the sticks as usual.

History

Since Eibar’s promotion to top-flight status in 2014, they have faced Real Madrid in 12 occasions.

Unfortunately, the head-to-heads are not in their favour since they have only won once while their visitors have won the other 11 fixtures.

Real Madrid always had their way against Eibar especially last season, as they finished with an aggregate tally of 7-1 in two games.

Eibar’s solitary win in this matchup happened not too long ago where they dominated Real Madrid, 3-0. However, many have considered it as just a one-off.

Betting Tip

	Eibar vs Real Madrid	Real Madrid Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 1.90
	December 21, 04:00 (GMT+8)

With Real Madrid looking much healthier as a whole, they are heavily backed by the La Liga 2020 odds to win in this contest.

Los Blancos are pegged at 1.51, while Eibar are priced at 6.00 and a draw is at 4.10 in the 1×2 market.

This is expected to be a grind-out slugfest for both of these teams, so defence will be the name of the game on this one.

Under 2.50 @ 1.94 is a great alternative besides the Asian Handicap recommendation, while Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.23 is another likely scenario.

Real Madrid will be feeling good about themselves as they are running hot in form and we expect them to pick up three more points this Sunday.

While Eibar have been a tough nut to crack in recent weeks, Real Madrid’s superior talent and quality should prove to be enough to get their sixth consecutive win in all competitions.