Real Madrid’s possible starting lineup vs Cádiz today in LaLiga

Real Madrid will again be without star striker Karim Benzema when they take on Cádiz in LaLiga on Thursday, in Los Blancos’ final game before the 2022 World Cup.

Benzema “doesn’t feel good” - Ancelotti

Benzema, who has so far missed eight of Madrid’s 20 games this season, continues to struggle with a muscle issue. “He has trained alone and he hasn’t stopped, but he doesn’t feel good,” head coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters on Wednesday.

Since Madrid’s LaLiga win over Elche on 19 October, the 34-year-old - who was on Wednesday named in France’s World Cup squad - has been restricted to a 25-minute substitute appearance in the Champions League victory against Celtic on 2 November.

Antonio Rüdiger is also unavailable to face Cádiz. The defender has not recovered from a hip issue that kept him out of Monday’s defeat to Rayo Vallecano.

Kroos returns from suspension

Toni Kroos is poised to return to the Madrid midfield after serving a suspension against Rayo, with Aurélien Tchouaméni and one of Luka Modric or Fede Valverde expected to start in the engine room with the German.

In Benzema’s absence, Ancelotti seems likely to name an unchanged front three of Marco Asensio, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, with the latter again operating at No. 9.

In defence, Lucas Vázquez could come in for Dani Carvajal at right-back.

Possible Real Madrid lineup vs Cádiz:

Courtois, Carvajal/Vázquez, Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Modric/Valverde, Tchouaméni, Kroos, Asensio, Rodrygo, Vinícius.

Real Madrid vs Cádiz: preview

After winning 14 and drawing two of their opening 16 games in all competitions this term, Madrid have hit a sticky patch. Los Merengues have lost two of their last four, taking just one point from their past two LaLiga outings.

Monday’s 3-2 reverse at Rayo allowed leaders Barcelona to open up a provisional five-point advantage at the top by beating Osasuna on Tuesday.

As for Cádiz, Sergio González’s men go to the Bernabéu in the relegation zone, but on an improved run of only one defeat in their last eight league games. Since returning to the top flight two years ago, the Andalusians are unbeaten in both of their away clashes with Madrid: the visitors were 1-0 winners in the Spanish capital in October 2020, before earning a 0-0 draw in December 2021.

Real Madrid vs Cádiz: key info

The matchday-14 LaLiga fixture between Real Madrid and Cádiz will kick off at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, at 9:30pm local time (CET) on Thursday 10 November 2022. In the United States, that’s 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT.

Viewers in the US can stream the game live online with fuboTV, which offers a free trial.