Rayo Vallecano hosts Real Madrid on Sunday, and that means it’s the perfect time to revisit the surprising turn that this series has taken. Rayo, who haven’t won in La Liga since the beginning of the year and now find themselves 14th in the table, have only lost one of their previous three meetings with Madrid.
They also won last year’s edition of this very game 3-2, in a season where they finished 11th in the table.
Real Madrid at Rayo Vallecano FYIs
Kick-off: Sunday, Feb 18, 2pm local, Estadio de Vallecas
Madrid Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Form: Real Madrid WDWWW Rayo Vallecano LLLDL
LL Standing: Real Madrid 1st, 61 pts Rayo Vallecano 14th, 24 pts
Result Probability: Real Madrid win 60% Draw 23% Rayo Vallecano win 17%
So while Madrid sit in the table’s top position, and look to easily win here this weekend, well don’t take any result for granted. Manager Carlo Ancelotti will need to put his best foot forward, and this is what we came up with that. Behold our predictive 4-3-2-1 information
Real Madrid Starting XI Prediction at Rayo Vallecano
Andriy Lunin; Dani Carvajal, Aurelien Tchouameni, Nacho Fernandez, Fede Garcia; Ernesto Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric; Joselu, Rodrygo; Vinicius
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.