La Liga match preview: SD Eibar vs. Real Madrid
SD Eibar Team News
Injuries and Suspensions
Eibar will be without the services of Fabian Orellana who will miss the tie due to an injury. He will be sorely missed by the Basque side as he has been arguably their best player since signing up in the winter transfer window.
Fran Rico and Sergi Enrich too are unavailable due to injury. The rest of the squad is available for selection.
Playing XI and Formations
Manager Jose Mendilibar should be able to call up his preferred XI except for Orellana. Pedro Leon should replace the injured Chilean international on the right.
Eibar plays a really traditional 4-4-2.
Defensively, they hold a very high defensive line and press the opposition as if their life depends on it. Eibar is an attack-minded side and are not known for their possession game. While defending, they try to win back the possession with their efficient press. In case of a press resistant opposition, Eibar will sit deep and try to hit their opponents on the counter.
In possession, the entire focus of the team is to shift the ball to both wings. The fullbacks keep running down the flanks and cross the ball at every possible opportunity. As a result, Eibar is a team which could challenge Real Madrid for most crosses per game.
Real Madrid needs to be extremely careful of these runs, predominantly down the right. Eibar’s left back, Jose Angel, has the second highest number of assists for the season for a defender, after Jordi Alba. He works really well with Takashi Inui on the left and most of Eibar’s attack come down that flank.
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Madrid needs to be really really careful in this game.
Zidane cannot take this game lightly as Eibar is a difficult place to visit. Atleti and Barca won their the hard way and it will not be any different for Real Madrid. It will be interesting to see who Zidane chooses to start on Saturday against Eibar, which promises to be a thrilling encounter.