On Friday Real Madrid head to Almeria’s Juegos Mediterráneos in search of their 12th consecutive win in La Liga this season and their 20th straight victory in all competitions. The final Liga match of the year will perhaps be the easiest match in the competition for Real Madrid since they hosted Elche 9 rounds ago, as it is relatively safe to say that Almeria are not going through a good spell at the moment. Almeria are currently on a 8-match winless run in the league that at one point included 4 back-to-back losses, the joint longest losing run this season. The club currently sits just one spot above the relegation zone (just on goal difference). If all of these aren’t enough to make an already confident Real Madrid even more assured of victory, Almeria have yet to win a single match at home this season. In fact they have earned just 3 points out of a possible 21 (14%) at home in La Liga. Meanwhile on the other side, Real Madrid are currently the most in-form team in the world with 20 straight wins and field the strongest attacking force in all of Europe. If that was not enough, the current La Liga leaders are the highest scoring team away from home in Europe with 27 goals in just 7 away league matches (average of 3.86 goals per match). Another aspect where the match seems drastically ‘unfair’ is when it comes to Almeria attack vs Real Madrid’s defence. Almeria has managed to score more than 1 goal in just one home match this season, while Real Madrid have conceded just 3 goals in their last 9 Liga rounds and only 1 goal in their last 5 away Liga matches. So with all that in mind, it might be an understatement to say that Real Madrid defeating Almeria on Friday is a relatively safe bet.
Team News
Real Madrid will be without their vice-captain Sergio Ramos who picked up his 5th yellow card in La Liga this season vs Celta Vigo last week and will therefor be suspended for the match. Ramos’s suspension coupled with the fact that he was not called up for the most recent match vs Ludogorets means that Ramos will get a total of 10 days rest before playing in the Club World Cup semi-final. Also absent is James Rodriguez who Ancelotti said ‘might’ be able to play on December 20th. Replacing him will most probably be Illarra again after he impressed in the last couple of games. Jese might be getting some minutes as Ancelotti keeps building him up towards full fitness. Other than those absences, the only doubt will be wither the Italian mister risks playing Toni Kroos again ahead of traveling to Morocco for the CWC or resting him for Sami Khedira, Medran, or even Marcelo who Ancelotti stated can “effectively” fulfil the role’s duties. Up front, it is not expected that there will be any major differences as Cristiano will look to increase his tally of 23 goals in his last Liga match of the year.
Pre-Match Almeria Stats
- Currently on a 8-match winless run in La Liga.
- Almeria’s last home win was almost 7 months ago (May 14th).
- Have won just 1 of their last 10 Liga matches.
- They are the team with the second least wins in La Liga this season.
- They have won none of their home matches this season.
- Almeria has the second weakest attack in La Liga this season.
- The whole team has scored less than half the goals that Cristiano alone has scored in La Liga this season.
- Almeria have only won one of their last 10 league matches vs Real Madrid.
- They are the team with the most losses in La Liga this season (8).
- Almeria have conceded 6 goals in their last 2 Liga matches.
- Almeria’s last win in La Liga was 2 and a half months ago.
- They have scored just 3 goals in their last 5 home Liga matches.
- They have suffered defeat in 4 of their last 5 home Liga matches.
- ALmeria only once managed to score more than a goal at home this season.
- Every single team that has visited Juegos Mediterráneo this season has been able to score.
- Only goal difference currently separates them from the bottom spot.
- They have the 3rd lowest average attendance in La Liga this season (10,531).
- They have kept just 2 clean sheets in La Liga this season (2nd lowest).
- They posses the 2nd lowest goals conversion rate in La Liga this season (9%).
Pre-Match Real Madrid Stats
- Cristiano Ronaldo alone has more than double Almeria’s goals in La Liga.
- Cristiano Ronaldo alone has the same amount of assists as Almeria’s team.
- Real Madrid have scored 40 goals more than Almeria in La Liga.
- In the last 3 league games vs Almeria, Real Madrid managed to score 17 goals.
- They are also the team with the highest number of goals scored (51).
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with the most Liga goals in 2014 (36).
- Real have scored 46 goals in their last 11 Liga matches (4.18 goals per match).
- No team has scored more away goals than Real Madrid in La Liga this season.
- Dani Carvajal is the only player that is a booking away from suspension.
- Real Madrid have the best goal conversion rate in the league (24%).
- Real Madrid have only kept one clean sheet in their last 5 trips to Almeria.
- They are the team with the most shots in La Liga this season (259).
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with the most shots in La Liga this season (66).
- They average 3.86 goals per away game in La Liga this season.
- Real Madrid are on a 11-match winning run in La Liga.
- No team in the top 5 leagues has scored as many goals as Real Madrid.
- Real Madrid have dropped just 3 points out of a possible 21 points away from home in La Liga.
- Real Madrid have scored more goals in their last 4 Liga matches than Almeria has managed this entire season.
- Real Madrid have scored in each of their last 15 Liga matches.
- Cristiano needs 2 goals to equal Raul as the Real Madrid player with the most away goals in La Liga.
- Cristiano ahs scored vs 16 of the 17 teams he has faced this season.
- Benzema has scored in 6 of his last 7 Liga matches.
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