On Saturday, December 20, Real Madrid CF hosts Rayo Vallecano in a Spanish Primera Liga fixture. The game will be played at the Santiago Bernabau in the city of Madrid and will kick off at 15:00 BST.
The home side is currently 3rd on the table with 30 points from 15 games, while the visitors are in 18th place, with 14 points from 15 games.
A win for the favourites can see can see them go no higher than their current position, while a defeat can see them drop to 4th position in the standings. A win for the underdogs can take them as high as 12th place, while a defeat could see them drop to the foot of the table.
Los Blancos, managed by Rafa Benitez are in good form, with four wins and one defeat in their last five games in all competitions. These wins were against Eibar (2-0 on November 29), and Getafe (4-1 on December 5) in the league, Cadiz in the Spanish Cup (1-3 on December 2), and Malmo (8-0 on December 8), in the Champions League.
The title challengers’ however lost to Villarreal in their most recent game (1-0 on December 13).
Los Vallecanos, managed by Paco Jemez are in abysmal form, with one win and four defeats in their last five games. This single win was against Getafe in the Spanish Cup (2-0 on December 2).
The relegation threatened side have suffered a lot of losses recently, including games against Atletic Bilbao (0-3 on November 29), Villarreal (2-1 on December 6), Malaga (1-2 on December 13), and Getafe in the Spanish Cup (3-1 on December 16).
Gareth Bale hasn’t been in the best of form since returning from an injury earlier in the season. He will be looking to return to his brilliant best against one of the poorer sides in the league.
Yoel has come into the side recently, but has failed to stamp his authority on the team or keep any clean sheets. He will need to be at the very top of his game if his team are to come away with any points from what is certain to be a difficult away game.
Real Madrid are streets ahead of Rayo Vallecano in terms of quality and I can only see one outcome in this game. Real Madrid to win by a comfortable margin.
