Real Madrid are in action this evening for their eighth and penultimate match of a demanding month of January. The Whites, who are top of LaLiga, visit the José Zorrilla stadium to face Valladolid on matchday 21 of the competition (Saturday, 9 pm CET).

Ancelotti‘s side will be determined to secure a fourth consecutive win in the league to stay top of the standings and even extend the two-point gap over Atlético and seven over Barcelona and Athletic Club before the start of the matchday.“We're the league leaders and we want to maintain that position,” said Ancelotti in the press conference ahead of the clash. The Italian coach has named his squad which does not include the suspended Vini Jr., but it does include two players who are in a spectacular scoring form: Rodrygo and Mbappé. The Brazilian, who bagged a brace against Salzburg, has netted in four of his last five games, and the Frenchman has been on target in his last four games, with five goals.

The opposition

Valladolid go into the clash bottom of the league, but they will be confident after winning the last two matches of the competition at Zorrilla. In addition, they did not concede in either game, which both ended in identical 1-0 wins over Betis and Valencia. Raúl Moro and Kike Pérez, with four goals each, are their top scorers so far this season.