Real Madrid: 3 players who must step up against Alaves due to several injuries

DM Casemiro

Real Madrid defensive midfielder Casemiro has eight tackles and 12 interceptions in his last four La Liga appearances, according to WhoScored.com, meaning he is averaging two tackles per game and three interceptions per game in this time span.

But despite Case’s defensive contributions in recent weeks, Madridistas remain unconvinced with the star player’s work. The 28-year-old hasn’t been as influential to the team in 2020-2021 as he was in 2019-2020, and while he has somewhat recovered from an awful start to the season, Casemiro is still making head-scratching errors on the ball.

Worse yet, Casemiro failed to track a run in extra time against Alcoyano, essentially costing Real Madrid in an eventual 2-1 Copa del Rey loss.

With Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal out, the pressure on Casemiro only increases this Saturday night at the Mendizorroza. He needs to start playing like an elite defensive midfielder instead of drifting in between poor games and “good” ones. We haven’t seen Casemiro deliver a world-class performance on both ends of the pitch this season. He’ll have great defensive performances, but he’ll be a liability with the ball at his feet in those same games.

Here’s to hoping Casemiro has a statement game at Alaves after another disappointing effort on Thursday at Alcoyano.