In-form Espanyol host high-flying Real Madrid in the first leg of Copa del Rey quarter-finals clash at Cornella El Prat.

This is definitely not the right time to be facing los Blancos, but the Catalan side will be feeling confident as well having notched up two good results in a row.

Espanyol gave a good account of themselves in recent 1-0 home defeat to Real Madrid, their third straight setback, and that good performance certainly gave them something to build on.

As a result, los Periquitos overturned a one-goal deficit and recorded a 4-2 triumph over Alcorcon to progress in Copa del Rey, before ending a two-match losing run in the league with a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo.

Having now climbed to eight in the La Liga standings, Espanyol can fully focus on their tie against Real Madrid, where they are 4.00 (3/1) not to lose.

Apart from David Lopez, who is out with a hamstring problem, boss Javier Aguirre has no selection problems at the moment.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Casilla – J. Lopez, Colotto, Moreno, Fuentes – Abraham, Alvarez – Stuani, Garcia, Simao – Cordoba.

Having lost to both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, Real Madrid could not prevent their title rivals from creating a five-point lead at the top, and just a couple of weeks ago it looked as though winning La Liga title would prove to be a very difficult task.

However, while their rivals suffered two successive slip ups each, los Blancos recorded a hard-fought victory over Espanyol before hammering Real Betis to close the gap to just one point.

Meanwhile, they masterminded a 4-0 aggregate triumph over Osasuna in Copa del Rey, earning a chance to battle Espanyol for a place in the semi-finals.

And with los Blancos on top of their game at the moment, bear in mind they are 2.05 (21/20) to score three goals or more at Cornella El Prat.

Carlo Ancelotti is expected to rest some of his star players in the midweek clash against Espanyol, with Nacho, Jese and Illaramendi all expected to start.

Sami Khedira and Fabio Coentrao are out through injury and suspension respectively, whereas Raphael Varane is unlikely to be in contention having only just resumed training.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Casillas – Arbeloa, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo – Modric, Illarramendi – Bale, Isco, Ronaldo – Jese Rodriguez.