Preview: Getafe vs. Real Madrid

Sports Mole previews Thursday’s La Liga clash between Getafe and Real Madrid, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Real Madrid will have the chance to move top of La Liga when they make the short trip to the Coliseum for Thursday’s La Liga clash with Getafe.

While Los Blancos currently sit in second place and one point adrift of Girona, the Azulones will head into the contest in 10th position.

Match preview

Getafe returned to winning ways in Monday’s clash with Granada after losing to Sevilla and Osasuna in the Copa del Rey and league respectively.

Mason Greenwood opened the scoring with the help of a deflection, before the in-form Borja Mayoral pounced on a mistake from Granada goalkeeper Augusto Batalla to double Getafe’s advantage with what proved to be the final goal of the contest.

After winning seven, drawing eight and losing six of their 21 league matches, the Azulones currently sit comfortably in midtable, leaving them on course to better a run of three consecutive 15th-place finishes.

Jose Bordalas’s side have proven to be a tough team to beat on home turf, with their 10 home league games producing six wins, three draws and just one defeat.

Impressively, the Azulones have conceded just six league goals at the Coliseum this term, and they will need all of that defensive resilience to frustrate a Real Madrid side that are currently the second-highest scorers in the top flight.

Having lost each of their last four meetings with Real Madrid, Getafe are hoping to claim their first head-to-head victory since winning 2-1 in January 2022.

After coming from two goals down to beat Almeria 3-2, Real Madrid were forced to produce another fightback in Saturday’s away clash with Las Palmas.

Following a goalless first half, Real Madrid fell behind in the 53rd minute when Las Palmas midfielder Javier Munoz found the net with a deflected effort, but Los Blancos ultimately turned the game in their favour thanks to efforts from Vinicius Junior and Aurelien Tchouameni.

As a result of their successful trip to Gran Canaria, Real Madrid have now won five consecutive matches in La Liga, while they are also unbeaten in 15 league games since suffering their only defeat of the season in September’s meeting with Atletico Madrid.

Los Blancos have since faced Atletico on two occasions, and they are set to meet their local rivals for the third time in the space of a month in Sunday’s La Liga fixture, but first, they must negotiate a tricky away game against Getafe.

With Real Madrid looking to win their 36th La Liga title, they will leapfrog Girona at the top of the table if they can claim their 18th league victory of the season in Thursday’s encounter.

The visitors will know that a win is far from a foregone conclusion, having dropped points in three of their last five away meetings with Getafe, but they can take confidence from the fact they recorded a narrow 1-0 victory on their most recent visit to the Coliseum in October 2022.

Getafe La Liga form:

Getafe form (all competitions):

Real Madrid La Liga form:

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

Team News

Getafe are still unable to call upon the injured Mauro Arambarri, while Ilaix Moriba is currently representing Guinea at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Damian Suarez, Jose Angel Carmona and Luis Milla will all be available for selection after serving their respective suspensions.

Mayoral, who has scored 14 league goals this season, will be looking to score in a third consecutive game when he features up front against his former club.

As for Real Madrid, they remain without the services of Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao and David Alaba, who are all continuing to work on their rehabilitation from anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Ancelotti has tended to rotate Andriy Lunin and Kepa Arrizabalaga in recent weeks, but the Real Madrid boss could be tempted to keep the Ukrainian in goal for Thursday’s contest.

Jude Bellingham will return to the side after the England international missed the win over Las Palmas due to a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

After making a number of changes at the weekend, Ancelotti is set to recall Ferland Mendy, Luka Modric, Federico Valverde and Tchouameni.

Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez; Djene, Alderete, Rico; Greenwood, Maksimovic, Milla, Alena; Mayoral, Mata

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Modric, Bellingham; Vinicius, Rodrygo