Real Madrid and Valencia set for Supercopa de Espana showdown

Real Madrid vs Valencia CF - 11/01/2023

Supercopa de España | Preview

10/01/23

Real Madrid and Valencia set for Supercopa de Espana showdown

2986

The Supercopa de Espana returns to Saudi Arabia for the third time, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia and Real Betis heading to the Middle East to compete for the trophy.

On Wednesday night, the King Fahd Stadium hosts the first semi-final between 12-time winners Real Madrid and 1999 champions Valencia.

🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸#SuperSupercopa | @Emirates pic.twitter.com/FWkbqiAkA4
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) January 9, 2023

It is worth noting that Real Madrid lead Valencia by 19 points in the La Liga table, although both sides head to Saudi Arabia on the back of surprise defeats.

Indeed, Real Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Villarreal on Saturday – meaning they have lost two of their previous four La Liga games.

When you look at the bigger picture, however, Los Blancos have won 12 of their 16 league outings this season and remain in a two-horse title race alongside Barcelona.

Due to injury problems for Karim Benzema (9 goals, 1 assist), Vinicius Junior (10 goals, 5 assists) has been Real Madrid’s biggest attacking threat in all competitions this term.

Having won three of the previous five Supercopa de Espana titles, Los Blancos will be confident of defending their crown this year.

As for Valencia, they suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Cadiz on Saturday – despite racking up 74% possession and 11 shots at the Mestalla.

Gennaro Gattuso’s men have only managed to win five of their 16 La Liga encounters this season, recording four draws and seven losses in the process.

It is also worth pointing out that Valencia have lost four of their last six league games, suffering back-to-back defeats either side of the World Cup break.

Los Che’s first and only Supercopa de Espana triumph came back in 1999. Since then, they have lost three finals (2002, 2004, 2008) and also reached the semi-finals in 2020.

Head-to-head: Valencia have only managed to win one of their last seven meetings with Real Madrid, suffering five defeats along the way.

Given that Valencia have won just two of their previous 12 meetings with Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti’s side clearly have the upper hand in the recent head-to-head stats.

Team news: Real Madrid will be without the injured Alvaro Odriozola on Wednesday, while Dani Carvajal and Mariano Diaz are also doubts.

Valencia have just one injury absentee at the moment, as on-loan midfielder Nico Gonzalez suffered a metatarsal fracture against Cadiz last time out.