Getafe vs. Real Madrid: Complete Preview, Team News & Madrid Starting XI

In Week 2 of La Liga's 2012-2013 season, title holders Real Madrid look to get their first win of the season against cross-town rivals Getafe.

Los Merengues drew Valencia 1-1 in the opener and then lost 3-2 to Barcelona at Camp Nou. They will certainly be hungry for the full three points.

Team News

Real Madrid

The visitors will be tired from a tough away match to Barcelona mid-week, but Mourinho prepared for the second league match by resting a few key players.

Pepe is still recovering from a head injury he received against Valencia; it will be a game-time decision whether he starts or comes off the bench.

Getafe

The Madrid-based side lost to a talented Sevilla team in Week 1, but did manage a goal and made the match much closer than it should have been.

They will be at full strength and have two former Real players in Pablo Sarabia and Pedro Leon, who will do their best to cause problems for their former club.

Starting XIs

It will be interesting to see which players Jose Mourinho chooses in this match with the second leg of the Spanish Supercopa coming up mid-week.

Esteban Granero and Raphael Varane may get the nod here.

Real Madrid: Casillas, Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos, Marcelo, Lass, Alonso, Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo, Higuain

Getafe: Moya, Valera, Abraham, Alexis, Torres, Lacen, Leon, Castro, Michel, Lafita, Miku

Prediction

Real Madrid will be favored, but this tie could be tricky when they travel to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

Getafe will aim to keep Madrid without a win when they travel across town and are definitely a team that can cause problems for Los Merengues.

Last season Getafe took points from Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid at home. They also played Real to a tough 1-0 loss.

But in the end, they will go up against a very ornery Real Madrid side looking to take out the frustration of two winless matches out on someone—and Getafe just happens to be the team in waiting.

I expect a close win for the visitors, with a late goal making the match look more imbalanced than it really is.

Join Tom Sunderland as he blogs about this match live.

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