Almeria vs Real Madrid – After seven years away from the top level of Spanish football, Almeria won the previous season’s Segunda Division to earn promotion back to the top flight.
On Sunday night, the Rubi-led squad will face the defending champions Real Madrid at their Power Horse Stadium, Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos, for the chance to experience a dramatic “new” start in the top league.
In the previous season in the Segunda Division, Almeria had the greatest defensive record. They only let in 35 goals in 42 games. On Sunday, the team’s defensive line (their main strength) will face one of the deadliest attacking lines in Spain, if not all of Europe.
As always, Real Madrid is starting the new season with lofty goals. They made little changes to the team that won La Liga and the UEFA Champions League in the previous campaign.
Antonio Rudiger (free transfer) and Aurelien Tchouameni (Chelsea and Monaco, respectively) have bolstered Carlo Ancelotti’s squad. Preseason football action was limited for Real Madrid. They breezed past Juventus, a powerhouse team from Italy’s Serie A, two weeks ago in their final preseason test in the United States (2-0).
Almeria vs Real Madrid – Betting Analysis
From the beginning of this rivalry, Real Madrid has always come out on top. In the previous 12 matches between Los Blancos and Almeria, Los Blancos won 9, tied 2, and lost only 1.
Four of Real Madrid’s previous five matches against Almeria have featured four goals (a 38-10 total goal difference in 12 H2H matches). Almeria’s defence has looked substandard in three of their last four preseason friendly against Cordoba, San Fernando CD, and Granada.
Real Madrid should have room up front. Karim Benzema led La Liga with 27 goals last season. We’ll wager on the Frenchman to score anytime at 1.72 odds. At odds of 2.05, bet on Madrid with a -1.5 Asian Handicap.
Almeria vs Real Madrid – Head -to- Head
Our Prediction: Away Win
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