Injured Real Madrid Star Reportedly Set To Return For Trip To Valencia
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It's safe to say that this has not been the season that anybody at Real Madrid had in mind. Although the deficit to Barcelona has been cut down to one point, the team are still second. They failed to reach the top 8 in the UEFA Champions League and humiliatingly lost to second-tier Albacete in the Copa del Rey round of 16.
One thing that should be said is the team have had an awful lot of injuries, particularly in the defence. Eder Militao picked up an injury in November that will rule him out until April. David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger have both missed significant periods of time. Dean Huijsen has also missed games and has played through injury at other times.
One other defender who has missed a significant period of time is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who missed games at the beginning of the season and has been out since the game against Athletic Club in early December, a game in which he provided an assist for Kylian Mbappe.
Trent Alexander-Arnold to return vs Valencia
But, there is some good news. According to Diario AS, the Englishman will be called up for the game against Valencia at the Mestella for Sunday night's game in La Liga. He has now recovered from his injury.
It has been evident that the team has lacked the chance creation from Alexander-Arnold during his time out of the side. He's already created two big chances in his 398 minutes played in La Liga thus far.
Despite the win over Rayo Vallecano, it was another game where the side struggled to consistently create good openings. Most games that Alvaro Arbeloa's side are against teams that sit in. Having someone like the England international will be huge for trying to break them down.
You'd imagine Arbeloa will be cautious and ease the defender in for his return. Sunday's game against Valencia will probably come too soon for a starting XI birth, but we can expect to see him play some sort of part.
Particularly if Madrid are not ahead in the game. That feels the optimal chance to get Alexander-Arnold on to try and create chances, particularly against a Carlos Corberan-coached team who are more than happy out of possession.
No doubt about it, this is huge news. It will be interesting to see what will happen with Federico Valverde. He has deputised admirably at right-back, but has been outspoken about how he does not like playing there. However, he has not been his usual self when playing in midfield so far this season.
But, as captain, you can't imagine he will come out of the team. So, it then begs the question, who drops out of the midfield? Arda Guler? Will he move to the wing? Let's wait and see.
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Tom Vinall is a sports writer covering Real Madrid On SI. Previously, he had worked at FanSided as both a contributor and site expert, covering the likes of Spurs and Bayern Munich. He has also previously written for Transfer News Live. Tom was born and lives in Bristol, South West England, and loves to listen to music as well as learning Spanish.
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