Real Madrid will be hoping to turn their faltering La Liga season around in Saturday's match against second-from-bottom Alaves.
Following the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Real Betis on Wednesday night, Los Blancos will be hoping to secure three-points to close the gap between them and rivals Barcelona.
Alaves 14/1 to beat Real Madrid
Madrid are currently seven points behind table-toppers Barcelona and will be eager for Cristiano Ronaldo to assist in obtaining a win following his five-match suspension.
| Game | Alaves vs Real Madrid |
| Date | Saturday, September 23 |
| Time | 15:15 BST / 10:15 EST |
TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM
In the UK, the match will be available to watch live on television on Sky Sports Mix and by via online stream using the Sky Go app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Mix | Sky Go |
n the US, the match will be available to watch live on television on beIN Sports and by stream via beIN Sports Connect.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| beIN Sports | beIN Sports Connect |
SQUAD & TEAM NEWS
| Position | Real Madrid players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Navas, Casilla, Zidane |
| Defenders | Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo, Achraf |
| Midfielders | Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Llorente, Asensio, Isco, Ceballos |
| Forwards | Ronaldo, Bale, Vazquez, Mayoral |
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane may mix up his usual starting line-up with more of a focus on Tuesday night's Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund .
Star forward Ronaldo returned from his five-match suspension in midweek and is likely to start, but midfielders Luka Modric and Toni Kroos could both be given a break, with Dani Ceballos in line to be in the starting XI.
Theo Hernandez is still out with a dislocated shoulder and Karim Benzema, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo are also all out injured.
Potential starting XI: Navas, Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Nacho, Ceballos, Casemiro, Isco, Bale, Ronaldo, Mayoral.
| Position | Alaves squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Pacheco, Sivera, Landeta |
| Defenders | Vigaray, Duarte, Alexis, Laguardia, Maripan, Ely, Galilea, Litri |
| Midfielders | Katai, Romero, Ibai, Torres, Pedraza, Pina, Garcia, Fernadez, Wakaso, Medran, Lopez, Gomez, Burgui, Zidane |
| Forwards | Sobrino, Santos, Bojan, Munir, Krkic |
Forward Bojan Krkic will miss the match against Real Madrid after getting a thigh injury against Villarreal last weekend.
Enzo Zidane could feature in the starting line-up against his father's side for the first time since joining Alaves on loan this season.
Potential starting XI: Pacheco, Vigaray, Alexis, Maripan, Galilea, Romero, Zidane, Medran, Santos, Bojan, Munir
BETTING & MATCH ODDS
Madrid are 1/6 favourites to win this match, according to dabblebet , with odds of 14/1 attached to a Alaves victory. A draw is priced at 13/2.
Ronaldo is the away side's likeliest scorer, according to the betting markets, with a price of 7/4 to score first. While Alaves' Santos is priced at 14/1 to score first in the sixth game of the season.
GAME PREVIEW
Sergio Ramos described it as a "f*cking bad start" in the aftermath of Real Betis defeating the defending Spanish champions, and there's no doubt that a failure to win any of their three home games in the league has left them trailing in Barca's wake.
However, anything but an emphatic victory against a side expected to be relegation fodder in 2017-18 would be an enormous surprise.
Alaves have lost all five of their matches in the top flight so far this season and coach Luis Zubeldia parted with the club on Sunday.
The hosts are currently the only team in La Liga history to lose their first five fixtures of a season and not score a goal in that time either.