Predicted Lineup For Real Madrid vs Valencia In La Liga As Star Players Missing
It's another big game in La Liga for Real Madrid as they face Valencia at the Mestalla. With Barcelona winning their weekend game, Los Blancos know they must win to reduce the gap to one point again.
Los Che have been a tough opponent for Real Madrid in recent games, and they will travel to the east coast of Spain with several key players missing. That could give the home team some confidence in getting another big result.
Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo are both set to be out and missing for several games after this week's news regarding their injuries. The latter picked up an issue in training this past week, while Bellingham was injured in the game against Rayo Vallecano.
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Alvaro Arbeloa will also be without Vinicius Jr., who picked up a yellow card against Vallecano, ruling him out of this game through suspension. Antonio Rudiger and Trent Alexander-Arnold are hoping to make the squad, but will face late fitness tests.
Real Madrid predicted lineup vs. Valencia (4-4-2)
GK: Thibaut Courtois - Courtois continues to put in top performances after top performance, and deserves to have more clean sheets than he has this season.
RB: Fede Valverde - Trent Alexander-Arnold could be back in the squad, but is likely to start on the bench. Valverde likely starts again despite Carvajal being back for some time.
CB - Raul Asencio - Like Trent, Antonio Rudiger could be back, but too soon for him to start. Asencio continues on the right side of the two.
CB: Dean Huijsen - No, Rudiger means Huijsen and Asencio continue at center-back; both are young but are learning a lot from their consecutive starts.
LB: Alvaro Carreras - Carreras was on the bench for the Vallecano game, but with Camavinga possibly needed in midfield, he should start against Valencia.
RM: Franco Mastantuono - With Rodrygo out, Mastantuono starts again. He could move into a front three and drop into a four, depending on the game.
CM: Aurélien Tchouaméni - The Frenchman has been a near ever-present for Alonso and now Arbeloa when available.
CM: Arda Guler - With Bellingham injured, Guler could step into his role, but he will need to have the same energy as the Englishman when tracking back.
LM: Eduardo Camavinga - Played left back against Vallecano, but Camavinga moves back into midfield. Could be asked to play on the left if they need him to.
ST: Gonzalo Garcia - With Vini Jr. suspended and Rodrygo out, Garcia could be the player Arbeloa leans on to start up top.
ST: Kylian Mbappe - The Frenchman scored the winner against Rayo, and with Vinicius out, we could see him drift to the left much more.
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Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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