Granada vs Real Madrid

Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes will play host to an intriguing La Liga encounter between relegation-threatened Granada and leading title contenders Real Madrid.

A 2-0 away defeat to Espanyol on the eve of the international break smacked Granada back to reality, halting their four-match unbeaten run in La Liga (W2, D2). Level on points with 18th-placed Elche, Granada face the prospect of sliding to the drop zone unless they snap a horrific 12-game losing league streak against Real Madrid. Alarmingly, though, the ‘Nazaries’ conceded an average of 3.3 goals per match in that period, suggesting they could roll over here. What’s more, the hosts have only won one of their last 12 La Liga home meetings with this opposition (D2, L9), courtesy of a 1-0 triumph in February 2003. Granada’s embarrassing form across the last 17 La Liga fixtures (W2, D6, L9) douses any embers of optimism regarding a potential upset here.

On the other hand, Real Madrid have racked up a four-game unbeaten league streak (W3, D1) since being beaten 2-1 by Espanyol in early October, moving to within a single point from top-placed Real Sociedad. ‘Los Blancos’ have been nothing short of outstanding away from home, losing just once in their previous 21 La Liga road trips (W14, D6) while finding the back of the net in the last ten in a row. Interestingly, each of Madrid’s last four La Liga away fixtures has yielded the identical 2-1 scoreline (W3, L1), with three of them seeing the victor draw first blood. Plenty of second-half action could be on the cards at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, as 20 (83.33%) of Madrid’s 24 La Liga away goals scored this season have come beyond half-time.