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Real Madrid continue easy start to season on matchday 4

Xinhua, September 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Real Madrid fans will be expecting to see more goals when their side entertains bottom of the table Granada on matchday 4 of the BBVA Primera Liga.

Real Madrid have taken advantage of the very easy start to the season they have been handed by the Spanish football league, scoring 11 goals in their last two matches, as well as four in their Champions League tie at home to Shahktar Donetsk on Tuesday night.

They will be without injured quartet of Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, James and Danilo, but even so coach Rafael Benitez will probably have the luxury of rotating his side against a team that conceded nine goals on its last visit to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Valencia will be wishing they had such an straightforward home game after losing on their Champions League debut at home to Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday night.

Nuno Espiritu Santo's side have not had a good start to the season and may not have it easy at home to newly promoted Betis, whose winger Joaquin Sanchez will be returning to face another of his former clubs.

Unbeaten Eibar are at home to Atletico Madrid with the Basque side donating five euros for every ticket sold towards helping Syrian refugees.

Atletico travel after convincing in the Champions League away to Galatasaray on Wednesday, but Diego Simeone's team lost to Barca in the league last week and even at this early stage cannot afford to see more points escape them if they want to battle for the title.

Saturday also sees Real Sociedad entertain Espanyol and David Moyes' men need to start scoring goals soon or else talk of crisis in the Anoeta Stadium will start to take on a more serious tone after 'la Real' have failed to hit the target in their first three matches.

League leaders FC Barcelona will be able without Rafinha for their home game against Levante on Sunday. The midfielder suffered a knee ligament injury in the Champions League which will see him miss the rest of the season.

Villarreal and Athletic Club Bilbao meet in the El Madrigal Stadium in a game between two sides who are in Europa League action on Thursday night. Villarreal's comfortable win in Granada last week showed they are a side to be reckoned with, while the arrival of Raul Garcia at Athletic Club has given them extra bite in attack.

The weekend kicks off on Friday night when Getafe, who have lost all three games this season, entertain Malaga, who have yet to score a goal in the current campaign.

Meanwhile the round of matches comes to a close with games between Deportivo la Coruna and Sporting Gijon, Sevilla and Celta Vigo, who could go top depending on results elsewhere and Las Palmas, who drew 3-3 last week after playing against Celta Vigo with 10 men for almost 80 minutes, against a struggling Rayo Vallecano. Endit