La Liga preview and odds: Real Madrid vs. Levante

Published on: 15/10/2015

La Liga preview and odds: Real Madrid vs. Levante

October 17, 2015 15:00pm Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

La Liga

Spanish giants Real Madrid will return to action on Saturday when they welcome La Liga strugglers Levante to the capital.

Rumours of rift dismissed by Rafa

The Spanish football media love nothing more than a bit of dressing room drama and Real Madrid has provided them with plenty of fuel over the years.

The arrival of a Coach that refuses to pander to the whims of the club`s superstar players has inevitably led to further whispers of discontent. However, Rafa Benitez has declared that all is well in the Madrid camp ahead of the latest league game against lowly Levante on Saturday.

Despite being unbeaten in all competitions under the new boss, critics have accused Benitez of employing negative tactics. This perception has also been attributed to certain players, including Cristiano Ronaldo. However, in a recent radio interview with Spanish station Onda Cero, Benitez dismissed these claims as: "Invented."

A convincing win against one of the leagues relegation candidates would certainly help to fend off the detractors, for a few days at least.

Levante boosted by win over league leaders

Levante picked up all three points for the first time this season when they consigned league leaders Villarreal to their first defeat of the campaign in the last round of matches. Whether that game represented a revival in fortunes or a freak result remains to be seen.

The Valencian team have lost their last seven against Los Blancos with their last victory coming back in 2011. In the same fixture last season, the hosts ran out 2-0 winners.

Team news

Madrid will be without midfielder Luka Modric, who picked up an injury while on international duty with Croatia and Karim Benzema, who was injured while playing for France.

Meanwhile, Levante boss Lucas Alcaraz will have to make do without Ivan Lopez, David Navarro and Verza who are all out with injuries or illness.

Recent form (League)

Real Madrid: DDWWW

Levante: WLDLD

Betting odds and tips

There is no value in backing Real Madrid to win at home to Levante so you may need to look at other markets. Cristiano Ronaldo is due a goal run and can be backed as high as 11/5 to score first on Saturday. Alternatively, you could back the Portuguese forward to score 2 or more goals at 13/8 with Betvictor.

Published on: 15/10/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (15/10/2015 16:43:46) but are subject to change.