Real Madrid will be hoping to keep the pressure on rivals Barcelona when they face Valencia CF at Mestalla on Sunday night.
Zinedine Zidane's side have only lost once in their 15 LaLiga matches this season and go into the weekend level on points with the Blaugrana.
The prospect of topping the table ahead of a busy festive period will be a tempting one for the Spanish giants but they first must navigate their way past a resurgent Valencia side.
Los Che have bounced back since Albert Celades, the former Madrid midfielder, took over in September and have won four out of their last five in La Liga, with a top four spot in sight.
The two sides will meet in the semi-final of the revamped Spanish Super Cup in January and the winner of this clash will have the bragging rights ahead of their next meeting .
La Liga preview
Valencia vs Real Madrid
Venue: Mestalla
Kick-off time: 8pm GMT, Sunday, December 15
Team news and predicted line-ups
Zinedine Zidane is still without a number of first-team players but will have his key players back to full freshness after resting them in the Champions League in midweek.
Karim Benzema, their top scorer with 15 goals this season, started on the bench and the Frenchman is poised to return to lead the line alongside Brazilian teenage duo Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior..
Eden Hazard has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a minor fracture on his right ankle and the Belgian joins Marcelo, Marco Asensio, James Rodriguez and Lucas Vazquez on the treatment table.
Ferland Mendy is suspended for the clash after his sending off at Espanyol, leaving Zidane with the possibility of playing Alvaro Odriozola out of position.
Real Madrid possible XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Odriozola; Valverde, Kroos, Casemiro; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
Prediction: Valencia 1-2 Real Madrid
Real know they can ill-afford to slip up, especially with Barcelona playing Real Sociedad on Saturday.
And while the hosts have been improving every week under Celades, Madrid's run of five wins in their last six games shows just how difficult they will be to beat. A narrow win for the visitors.
Tickets
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Betting tips and odds
Match odds
- Valencia win: 29/10
- Draw: 3/1
- Real Madrid win: 17/20
Correct score
| Scoreline | Valencia win | Real Madrid win | Draw |
| 1-0 | 14/1 | 9/1 | (0-0) 13/1 |
| 2-0 | 20/1 | 9/1 | (1-1) 6/1 |
| 2-1 | 11/1 | 7/1 | (2-2) 10/1 |
| 3-0 | 40/1 | 16/1 |
Betfair odds correct as of 1840 GMT on December 13. Click here to place a bet.
Live stream details and TV channel information
The match will be shown on LaLigaTV, available with Premier Sports as part of its channel bundle on Sky TV and the Premier Player OTT streaming service for just £11.99 per month or £99 per year (with pricing and launch date on Virgin TV to be confirmed).
You can follow all the action with Standard Sport's LIVE blog on the day with Ben Hayward.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Unsurprisingly, Madrid have the better record heading into this clash with 17 wins over Valencia's seven and nine draws.
However, Valencia won their most recent encounter 2-1 in this fixture last season.
