Alaba, Gonzalo start in a 4-4-2 – How Real Madrid can line up against Getafe | OneFootball

Real Madrid will be gunning to secure all three points when they take on Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight in Matchday 26 of La Liga.

With Barcelona securing a comfortable win over Villarreal over the weekend, Real Madrid have now fallen four points behind the league leaders and have very little margin for error as they get set to face Jose Bordalas’ men.

The Merengues go into the game on the back of a crucial 2-1 win over SL Benfica that secured their place in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

However, Alvaro Arbeloa & co. are dealing with a plethora of injury problems as they could be without as many as seven players tonight.

Indeed, Eder Militao, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Dani Ceballos, and Raul Asencio are all ruled out of the contest through injuries.

Meanwhile, Dean Huijsen is a major doubt, having only done a part of group training session over the weekend. Eduardo Camavinga, too, has question marks over his availability as he is dealing with a severe toothache.

With that in mind, here’s how Real Madrid could take the field against Getafe tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Defence

Thibaut Courtois will continue to be the undisputed starter in goal for Real Madrid and will be aiming to keep a clean sheet after having managed only two in the last six games in all competitions.

With Arbeloa running out of options at centre-back, the veteran duo of Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba is expected to feature from the start against Getafe tonight at the Bernabeu.

Set to start together. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)

As for the full-back positions, there is no looking past Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been impressive since returning from injury. It means captain Dani Carvajal will once again accept a spot on the bench.

Midfield

Arbeloa has stuck with the strategy of a four-man midfield unit in recent games which has worked well for Real Madrid, and that is unlikely to change tonight against Getafe.

As such, Federico Valverde, who will captain the team in Carvajal’s absence from the starting XI, is expected to line up on the right flank once again for Los Blancos.

Meanwhile, Arda Guler and Aurelien Tchouameni will operate centrally, with the former in charge of providing the vision and creativity, and the latter tasked with offering defensive solidity.

With doubts over the availability of Camavinga, Brahim Diaz could get a rare starting opportunity on the left flank.

Youngsters Thiago Pitarch and Jorge Cestero will likely be options from the bench and could get minutes later in the game.

Attack

With Kylian Mbappe unavailable for a second game in a row, Gonzalo Garcia is expected to slot in as the central striker once more for Real Madrid. Partnering him will be Vinicius Jr., who has been in impressive form since last month and will aim to carry it forward.

With Rodrygo Goes back from injury and suspension, he will be expected to get some minutes off the bench against Getafe.