Real Madrid v Bilbao (Thursday night on Sky)

By A.J. Ryder on 10:06AM GMT 21 Sep 2005
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Sky Sports viewers are set for a rare Thursday evening live La Liga match. Struggling Real Madrid need to find form quickly at home to Athletic Bilbao to avoid falling too far behind the leaders. After three games Madrid are 15th in the table, although a couple of victories would soon result in a far higher position.

In an attempt to stop the decline, Vanderlei Luxemburgo is set to change formation for the club's home match with Athletic Bilbao on Thursday night. Having tried to incorporate the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Robinho, Raul, Ronaldo and Baptista all in the same team, the Brazilian manager may switch to a standard 4-4-2

That would mean a solid midfield of Pablo and Thomas Gravesen, with David Beckham out on the right, and Robinho on the left. Jonathan Woodgate may make his debut in the centre of defence.

A change in formation may prove to be just the tonic, especially with Beckham sending over deadly crosses from the right and Robinho weaving his magic on the left. The defence wouldn't be as exposed with a couple of enforcers in the middle.

Looking at the odds and it is hard to get too excited about the 4/9 on offer for a home win, especially as in this fixture last season Bilbao came away with the points.

However, what does appeal is Ronaldo at 10/3 to score first. The forward should benefit from the tactical changes with what should prove to be a better supply line.

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