Valencia v Real Madrid Match Result
The La Liga football betting sites are expecting Real Madrid to collect a first win of the New Year when they travel to the Mestalla Stadium. Los Merengues are in the thick of the title hunt and have forty points from eighteen matches, although they haven’t been totally convincing on the road and have a lower than 50% win rate in that regard.
The bookies still afford a high probability to Real Madrid when it comes to securing a victory against a Valencia side who are really struggling and the visitors finished 2024 in strong form, with a 4-2 victory over Sevilla demonstrating their attacking credentials where eight shots on target were registered.
Previously to this, Real won the Club World Cup and that came after a high-scoring draw at Rayo Vallecano, with the Madrid side recovering from going two goals down to draw 3-3. They will look to outscore Valencia in this clash and perhaps the best bet is Real to win and both teams to find the net.
Los Che have actually scored more goals than they have conceded at home this season, bagging twelve and letting in eleven. Carlos Corberan has just been appointed as the new manager and the former West Brom coach will look to quickly get the team organised, although they are big outsiders to get the job done here.
A draw would be a positive outcome and Corberan has a handful of days to acquaint himself with his new playing squad and aim to start picking up results. It would be excellent if Valencia took a point from this clash and they will take heart from the volume of dropped points from Real Madrid when they have taken to the road.
Goals Under/Over
The football betting sites make it slightly more likely that there will be Over 2.5 Goals compared to the Unders, with Real Madrid averaging nearly two goals per away game this season and they have been firing well in recent weeks. Sixteen goals have been scored in the previous five games in all competitions, with that including a 3-0 success at Girona along with a 3-2 triumph away to in-form Atalanta.
However, Valencia won’t want to give away too many easy chances. The first port of call for Carlos Corberan is to make Los Che hard to beat and perhaps that could bring Under 2.5 Goals into contention. There’s also the fact that the home side have only managed to find the net twelve times in their eight matches played at the Mestalla.
BTTS
Although Over 2.5 Goals is trading at odds-on, the same can’t be said when it comes to BTTS Yes. That is currently available at evens or bigger, although we can actually see both teams finding the net. After all, Real Madrid have some serious competition in La Liga’s title race and they’ll want to adopt an attack-minded approach.
That was certainly in evidence when overcoming Atalanta 3-2 in the Champions League where Los Merengues were able to outscore their opponents, with the last three Real Madrid clashes all featuring BTTS Yes if you don’t include a one-sided Club World Cup clash, although Real have managed to keep three clean sheets on the road this term.
Valencia’s previous two clashes have not only been draws but scoring ones. On Sunday 22 December, they clashed with Alaves and played out a 2-2 scoreline. A deeper dive into the stats could reveal that only three shots on target were registered by each side, while the previous game was a 1-1 draw at Espanyol where they managed to record four shots on target.
First Goalscorer
Kylian Mbappe has not been pulling up too many trees for Real Madrid this term although the striker is now into double figures in La Liga. The Frenchman signed off for 2024 with a string of goals which saw him bag against Girona, Atalanta, Pachuca and Sevilla, with six goals having been recorded in eight matches.
If you’re looking for an alternative, then Rodrygo has also managed to score in three consecutive matches and the Spaniard can be wagered at a bigger price. There’s obviously going to be interest in Vinicius Junior and the Brazilian has scored fourteen times already this term, with hat-tricks coming against Borussia Dortmund and Osasuna.
Valencia have had problems finding the net this term and Carlos Corberan’s arrival might see No Goalscorer be a more viable First Goalscorer option than anyone in his squad. Dani Gomez has scored twice in his past three games, with the Spaniard having bagged a late equaliser against Alaves.