Elche have managed a brace of La Liga (LL) draws since sacking former manager Francisco, but they’re still seeking their first league win of the season – one of only three sides across Europe’s ‘top five’ leagues in that position. After making their worst ever nine-game LL start (D3, L6), new boss Jorge Almirón has his work cut out, although he’s off the mark in terms of points after Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Valencia.
It gets no easier as they seek a first league H2H win over Real Madrid since March 1978 (D2, L10) but they would likely accept a repeat of the last meeting which ended in a 2-2 draw, even though they conceded twice after the 80th minute. As Elche have conceded 60% of their second-half league away goals this term after the 75th minute, more late action could well be on the way.
Madrid opened a three-point lead at the top of the table by beating fierce rivals Barcelona 3-1 on Sunday, leaving them as the division’s only unbeaten side (W8, D1). After manager Carlo Ancelotti highlighted their first-half performance as the key to victory, which saw newly crowned Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema open the scoring in the 12th minute, another quick start wouldn’t surprise as they’ve opened the scoring within 20 minutes in three of their last four league fixtures.
They’ve also launched this campaign with five consecutive league away wins for the first time since 1991/92, although that season Madrid finished runners-up to Barcelona! This term, they’ve scored an average of 2.4 goals per LL away game, more than their average of 1.83 goals per league game on the road against Elche since their last H2H league away defeat (W5, D1).
Players to watch: Five of Pere Milla’s last six LL goals – including one against Valencia – came after half-time, while Federico Valverde (RMA) was on the mark against Barcelona with his third consecutive LL goal between the 30th minute and half-time.
Hot stat: After matchday nine, Elche had collected a league-high 39 cards of any colour (Y36, R3) this term.
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Sorry highlights have been taken down, we’ll reupload later..