Getafe will hit the road to square up against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid, who are on a three-match winning streak.
Real Madrid are all set to host Getafe on Matchday 4 of the 2023/24 La Liga season. Los Blancos are off to a flyer in the new season, and they will look to carry on their form when they square up against the visitors. Meanwhile, the visitors have had a mixed bag of results so far and they will be looking to cause an upset here.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have got off to a perfect start to the new season, having won each of their three La Liga games. They started off the new season with a 2-0 win over Athletic Club, they followed it up with a 3-1 win over Almeria.
In their last outing, they managed to win 1-0 against Celta Vigo thanks to a late winner by Jude Bellingham. Real Madrid have been doing it just right throughout the new season, and they are expected to get past Getafe with ease.
Meanwhile, the visitors have not been in the best of forms in the 2023/24 season. They started off the season with a sensational 0-0 draw against Barcelona. The hard-fought draw against the defending champions gave their fans a lot of confidence but the following 3-0 defeat at the hands of Girona gave them a reality check.
They managed to bounce back with a 1-0 win over Alaves and will be heading into this fixture against Real Madrid high on confidence. However, it won’t be easy for the visitors given the form of the home team. Meanwhile, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both the squads and tries to predict the tactics they could deploy.
Team News and Tactics
Real Madrid
Heading into this fixture against Getafe, Carlo Ancelotti has quite a few injuries to deal with. The likes of Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao, Thibaut Courtois and Arda Guler are all out injured. Meanwhile, there are doubts over the availability of Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos.
⬆️ Well done, @BellinghamJude!
⭐ Your Five Star Player for August!#JugadorCincoEstrellas | @futbolmahou pic.twitter.com/BBsU7Xuq8Y— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) August 31, 2023
Ancelotti is expected to carry on with the 4-4-2 formation, where Kepa Arrizabalaga will be in goal. Fran Garcia and Dani Carvajal should continue as full-backs. In the heart of the defence, Antonio Rüdiger will pair up with David Alaba. The doue have been doing a great job and they are expected to carry on in a similar fashion.
Luka Modric could finally make his first start of the season on the left-hand side. He will be accompanied by Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. Jude Bellingham will continue as the attacking midfielder. In attack, Joselu could replace Vinicius Junior. He is expected to pair up with Rodrygo Goes.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Kepa; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Fran Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Modric; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Joselu
Getafe
The visitors have a long list of injuries to deal with as the likes of Mauro Arambarri, Luis Milla, Jose Angel Carmona and Enes Unal are all unavailable for this fixture. Meanwhile, they have reportedly shown interest in disgraced Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood.
🔙 Dani Güiza fue el primer jugador de la historia del Getafe en marcar en el Santiago Bernabéu. ¿Te acuerdas?
¡Dale al play y revive ese auténtico golazo! ▶#TBT | #RealMadridGetafe pic.twitter.com/HFlh9PfFhY
— Getafe C.F. (@GetafeCF) August 31, 2023
While Jose Bordalas prefers going ahead with the 4-4-2 formation, we could see a slight change to it against Real Madrid. Bordalas could go ahead with an additional centre-back in the heart of the defence, he could use a 5-4-1 for this fixture with David Soria in goal.
Damian Suarez and Juan Iglesias might end up adopting a wing-back role for this fixture. Their first focus will be on handling attacks from outside but they also look to support their lone forward.
The back three will consist of Gaston Alvarez, Domingos Duarte and Stefan Mitrovic. Even without Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid still have a deadly attack and the trio will have to be at its best to keep a clean sheet here.
Borja Mayoral will start outside on the right while Jaime Mata will take care of things on the left flank. Meanwhile, Nemanja Maksimovic and Djene Dakonam who will start in a more central role will look to dictate the pace of the game. Juanmi Latasa, who is on loan from Real Madrid, is expected to lead the line for the visitors.
Probable Lineup (5-4-1): Soria; Suarez, Duarte, Mitrovic, Alvarez, Iglesias; Mayoral, Maksimovic, Djene, Mata; Latasa
Key Stats
- The first league meeting between Real Madrid and Getafe took place back in 2014 where Los Blancos won 2-0.
- Real Madrid and Getafe have squared up against each other on 24 occasions, and the home team have come out on top on 17 occasions.
- Real Madrid are the only team who are yet to drop points in the 2023/24 La Liga season.
- Los Blancos’ new signing Jude Bellingham is La Liga’s top scorer with four goals to his name.
- Getafe have only registered a total of five wins over Real Madrid.
Player to Watch
Rodrygo Goes
Rodrygo has been going about his business quietly over the past few seasons, but he finally might have the limelight playing alongside Vinicius Junior. With Vinicius unavailable for this fixture, all the focus will be on the Brazilian sensation to get the job done against Getafe.
The 22-year-old forward had a total of 30 goal contributions last season. He was in fine form but was mainly used as a substitute. With Karim Benzema gone, he is now a regular and will be looking to surpass those numbers. He has already found the back of the net once and will now look to add to it.
Prediction
Real Madrid 4-1 Getafe
Real Madrid will be heading into this fixture high on confidence having won all three of their La Liga games so far. And, they will look to put up a similar performance against Getafe. While a few of their key players are missing, they still have a strong enough squad to get past the visitors.
On the other hand, Getafe have not been able to kick-start the new season in the best possible way. They did manage to win last time out but given their overall form and the strength of the opposition, a positive result looks unlikely. The Hard Tackle predicts a 4-1 win for the home team.
