Real Madrid have a chance to put extra pressure on their title rivals with a convincing triumph over Granada and move to the top of La Liga at least for a day. Meanwhile, los Rojiblancos arrive at Santiago Bernabeu in good spirits having climbed to the top half of the overall standings, hoping to make life difficult for their more illustrious opponents.

Real back in business

Things were not running smoothly for new boss Carlo Ancelotti and his side this season, but Real Madrid rose above all problems and seem to have managed to get their campaign back on track. While things are going according to plan in the Champions League and Copa del Rey, los Blancos have also managed to revive their title bid in La Liga, having quickly closed the gap behind their title rivals from five to just one point. Real Madrid have been steadily raising their form over the last month or so, with Cristiano Ronaldo proving he is worthy of Ballon d’Or and former Tottenham teammates Luka Modric and Gareth Bale also quite impressive. The most important thing is that Carlo Ancelotti seems to have found the right balance in the side, with his team winning last eight fixtures in all competitions and keeping six clean sheets on the bounce. They have also failed to concede a single goal in last four home fixtures, which is enough to suggest home win to nil is a good option here. Taking also into account that the team are brimming with confidence at the moment, Real can also be expected to turn on the style and record a big win.

As Raphael Varane and Fabio Coentrao have both resumed full training, Sami Khedira (knee) is the only casualty at the moment.

Smooth sailing for Granada

Ever since they returned to the elite division, Granada have been involved in the relegation tussle, and they did well to survive the past two campaigns thanks to some strong finishes. For the first time after quite a while, los Rojiblancos could avoid a nervy finish to a league campaign seeing they have already created an eight-point cushion between them and the bottom three. Oddly enough, Lucas Alcaraz’s side have been far from impressive on home soil, losing 7 of 11 fixtures at their Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes, but they have more than compensated with some very good performances on the road. Granada surprisingly has the fifth best away record in the league, having won 4, drawn 2 and lost 3 matches on the travels. However, the excellent record on the road could have something to do with the fact that they have so far mostly faced bottom table sides, with 3-0 and 4-0 defeats to Villarreal and Barcelona suggesting that Granada will experience all sorts of problems against in-form Real Madrid as well.

Important attackers Riki and Odion Ighalo are out injured, whereas key midfielder Fran Rico misses out through suspension. Allan Nyom and Mohamed Fatau should be in contention, whereas Pape Diakhate, Hassan Yebda, Roberto Fernandez and Dani Benitez are all injury doubts.

Verdict

Real Madrid appear to be on top of their game at the moment and having won last six matches without conceding, they should be able to continue the trend against Granada, a team that have failed to score in both away matches against top table sides. And with the visitors also missing quite a few important players, a big home win looks on the cards.

Top pick: Real Madrid to win to nil   1.80 (4/5) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Home win + over 3.5   1.62 (5/8) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 2: Real Madrid to score four or more   2.05 (21/20) @ Sportingbet