Umar Sadiq’s Valencia vs Real Madrid: Preview, team news & H2H

Super Eagles striker Umar Sadiq goes into Saturday’s La Liga game against Real Madrid at Mestalla as the man who ended Valencia’s winless start under Javier Aguirre, scoring the 68th-minute winner at Elche on November 1 after coming off the bench.

Sadiq returned from a hamstring injury that had kept him out for nearly two months, and he is not on Valencia’s injury list this week, although whether he starts or waits on the bench is yet to be confirmed.

Kickoff is at 9 pm Nigeria time, with Valencia 19th on nine points and winless in six home league games, and Real Madrid third on 27 points after seven straight wins in all competitions.

Match Radar: Valencia vs Real Madrid

⚽ Valencia vs Real Madrid
Competition	La Liga, matchday 12
Kickoff	Saturday, November 7, 2026, 9pm (Nigeria time)
Venue	Mestalla, Valencia
Where to Watch	Orange TV and DAZN (Spain)
🇳🇬 Umar Sadiq is Valencia’s joint top-league scorer with two goals in 187 minutes

Form and context: Valencia’s home record and Real Madrid’s seven-game run

Valencia have drawn two and lost four of their six home league games, scoring three goals and conceding 11.

That leaves them 19th, one point behind 17th-placed Elche and 18th-placed Levante, who both have 10.

Aguirre has taken five points from his first four games in charge, a run made up of a 2-2 draw at Racing Santander, a 0-0 draw with Athletic Club, a 1-2 loss to Villarreal and the win at Elche.

Sadiq’s goal came from a pass by Arnaut Danjuma and was one of only eight Valencia have scored in the league this season, spread across seven different players.

Real Madrid arrive third, three points behind Barcelona, after a 3-2 win at AEK Athens on Wednesday in which Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and a stoppage-time Federico Valverde goal cancelled out two AEK leads.

In La Liga, they have won four of their last five, including 2-1 at Barcelona and 3-0 at Racing Santander, and their only defeat in that run was 1-2 at Atlético Madrid.

Away from the Bernabéu, they have won four of six league games, scoring 11 and conceding seven, and they have had three days to recover from Athens while Valencia have had six.

Head-to-head: Real Madrid’s record at Mestalla

Real Madrid have won 113 of the 216 meetings between the clubs in all competitions, against 59 for Valencia and 44 draws.

Mestalla is the exception to that record, because Valencia lead there with 46 wins from 105 games, to 33 for Real Madrid and 26 draws.

Recent history favours the visitors, who are unbeaten in their last three league visits, winning 2-0 in February 2026, winning 2-1 in January 2025 and drawing 2-2 in March 2024.

Mbappé scored in stoppage time in that February game, which was Real Madrid’s first back-to-back win at the ground in more than 15 years.

Valencia’s only win in the last five league meetings came at the Bernabéu on April 5, 2025, and they scored five goals in those five games against 11 conceded.

Team news and predicted XIs: Vinícius suspended, Umar Sadiq’s role open

Real Madrid

Vinícius Júnior serves the last game of a four-match La Liga ban for his red card against Villarreal, so the Brazilian can return on November 21 against Celta.

Rodrygo (knee), Ferland Mendy (thigh) and Raúl Asencio, who was operated on after a stress fracture in his leg, are also out.

Aurélien Tchouaméni trained separately from the group on Thursday and is a doubt, while Valverde, who scored in Athens, is available and expected at right-back.

Valencia

Ibrahima Konaté has three yellow cards, as do Guido Rodríguez, Pablo Maffeo and Dani Raba for Valencia, though none of the four is suspended.

Valencia lose Sergi Canós, Diego López and David Otorbi to injury, and José Copete is not ready and is aiming to return after the international break.

Umar Sadiq is the one real selection question, because the side that won at Elche started with Danjuma and Javi Guerra up front, and the predicted XI keeps the same eleven.

Valencia	Real Madrid
Sergi Canós: out (knee) Diego López: out (knee) David Otorbi: out (hamstring) José Copete: out (not ready, aiming for after the international break)	Vinícius Júnior: suspended (last game of a four-match ban) Rodrygo: out (knee) Ferland Mendy: out (thigh) Raúl Asencio: out (stress fracture, operated) Aurélien Tchouaméni: doubt (trained separately on Thursday)

Star player comparison: Kylian Mbappé vs Umar Sadiq

Umar Sadiq Striker · Valencia	Stat	Kylian Mbappé Striker · Real Madrid
2	Goals	12
0	Assists	2
4	Appearances	11
1.8	Expected goals	11.1

The managers: Aguirre’s first win and Mourinho’s return

Aguirre, the Mexican appointed in September, took charge for the first time on October 11 at Racing Santander and waited until Elche for his first win.

After that game, he said his players needed no extra motivation to face one of the best teams in the league.

José Mourinho, appointed in June, is back at Real Madrid after his 2010-13 spell and has won seven in a row in all competitions, rebuilding a front line without Vinícius around Mbappé.

Tactical preview: Valencia’s 4-4-2 against Real Madrid’s 4-2-3-1

Valencia are likely to keep their 4-4-2 with Pepelu at centre-back, a shape that Aguirre used for the win at Elche.

Real Madrid’s 4-2-3-1 gets its balance from Valverde at right-back, which lets Arda Güler start in the attacking three alongside Bellingham and Yan Diomande.

With Asencio out, Dean Huijsen and Konaté are the likely centre-backs, and a Valencia team with three home goals all season will rely on a set of counter-attacks, or on Sadiq from the bench, to test them.

Real Madrid have conceded in three of their last five league games, so Valencia can find a goal, but the visitors’ attacking depth should still decide the match.

The Naija Slip: Valencia vs Real Madrid tips

Valencia vs Real Madrid Score prediction

🔮 Valencia 1 – 3 Real Madrid

Real Madrid have the attacking depth to absorb Vinícius’s suspension, while Valencia have scored only three home goals all season. Sadiq can find one from the bench, but Valencia are unlikely to hold back Mbappé and Bellingham for 90 minutes. Likely scorers: Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Umar Sadiq.