LaLiga Matchday 27: Real aiming to tighten grip on top spot

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Revitalised Real Madrid will aim to continue their charge towards a 35th LaLiga title on Matchday 27.

Sitting six points clear at the top, Carlo Ancelotti’s side entertain Real Sociedad in the late kick-off on Saturday evening.

Elsewhere this weekend, Barcelona travel to Elche looking to consolidate their place in the top four, while second-placed Sevilla can keep Real on their toes with a win at Alaves tonight.

Game of the week: Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad (Saturday, 8pm)

Having recorded back-to-back league victories for the first time since the winter break, Real Madrid will want to keep things rolling with a 10th home triumph of the season.

Trying to stop them are Real Sociedad, who have not fared well in the Spanish capital of late — winning only one of their last 10 top-flight games away to Madrid-based teams.

The hosts come into this clash on a run of four straight clean sheets in LaLiga. They last kept five in a row towards the end of the 2019-20 campaign under Zinedine Zidane.

Imanol Alguacil’s visitors have shut out the opposition in six of their last seven league matches — and they head to the Bernabeu after stringing together consecutive wins for the first time in over five months.

December’s reverse fixture saw Real take all three points thanks to goals from Vinicius Junior and Luka Jovic. Their Basque opponents have picked up four points from their last three visits to the Bernabeu though.

Here are the other big games to watch this weekend…

Elche vs Barcelona (Sunday, 3.15pm)

In-form Barcelona could rise to third with a win against Elche, who have not beaten the Blaugrana in the top flight since 1974.

No LaLiga team has claimed more points in 2022 than Barca (17 from a possible 21), as club legend Xavi continues to put his stamp on the side.

However, Elche have lost just twice at home all season, winning four of their last five games at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.

These two played out a 3-2 thriller at the Camp Nou just before Christmas, with Barca eventually prevailing through substitute Nicolas Gonzalez’s 85th-minute winner.

Real Betis vs Atletico Madrid (Sunday, 8pm)

The Estadio Benito Villamarin is the venue for a battle between two sides vying for Champions League qualification.

History favours Atletico Madrid, who have a remarkable record against Real Betis under Diego Simeone, losing just one of 18 LaLiga meetings — and coming out on top in 13 of those.

And Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini is still searching for a first league victory over his fellow South American — only against Pep Guardiola has he taken charge of more games without winning.

Atleti ran out 3-0 winners when the teams last met in Madrid but Betis have won one and drawn one of their last three home encounters with Los Colchoneros.

Alaves vs Sevilla (Friday, 8pm)

Sevilla can move within three points of Real Madrid — at least for 24 hours — by beating second-bottom Alaves in the first game of the weekend.

Having not suffered defeat on any of their last five league trips to the Basque Country, the visitors are on their longest unbeaten run in the region for almost two decades.

As for the hosts, they are currently on their longest top-flight winless run against Sevilla (eight games) — although they have not lost any of their last seven Friday fixtures.

Alaves twice led November’s reverse meeting but Sevilla fought back on both occasions, salvaging a point through Ivan Rakitic’s stoppage-time strike.

Osasuna vs Villarreal (Saturday, 1pm)

Villarreal travel to Osasuna in search of a third straight away win, while the hosts are chasing just their third home success of the season.

The Yellow Submarine have had a player score a hat-trick in each of their last two LaLiga games, with Arnaut Danjuma doing so against Granada and Yeremi Pino going one better against Espanyol.

By contrast, Los Rojillos have failed to find the net in three of their last four outings — only three teams have scored fewer goals this term than Jagoba Arrasate’s side (25).

These teams last faced each other in October, with Ezequiel Avila striking late on to secure a 2-1 victory for Osasuna.

The weekend's other fixtures

Espanyol vs Getafe (Saturday, 3.15pm)

Valencia vs Granada (Saturday, 5.30pm)

Cadiz vs Rayo Vallecano (Sunday, 1pm)

Celta Vigo vs Mallorca (Sunday, 5.30pm)

Athletic Bilbao vs Levante (Monday, 8pm)

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