The first El Clasico of the season is set to take place this weekend when Real Madrid welcome Barcelona to the Bernabeu on Saturday night.
Both teams have enjoyed strong starts to the season with Barcelona leading the way in La Liga on 27 points and Real Madrid trailing behind by three points.
The early season form of the two sides makes this one of the most hotly anticipated Clasicos in a while. Check out our prediction for the match below.
How the bookies view it: Real Madrid start as favourites
Real Madrid come into the match as the favourites with the bookmakers but despite being at home, they aren't odds-on. Betfred have priced a win for the hosts at 1/1 while a win for Barcelona has been priced at 23/10. The draw, which would keep Los Blancos' unbeaten start to the season alive, has been priced at 3/1.
Recent head-to-head: Advantage Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti has had Barcelona's number in recent meetings between the two sides with Real Madrid winning the four most recent Clasicos. Barcelona's last win over their greatest rivals came in March 2023 and Hansi Flick will be desperate to put an end to this run on Saturday night.
Players to watch: Attacking talent everywhere you look
Over the years, Barcelona vs Real Madrid has been a fixture stacked with world-class attacking talent and it very much feels like the best attackers in world football are a part of this fixture once again when you look at the expected starting XIs of both teams.
Kylian Mbappe and Vincius Jr are the two standout names in the Real Madrid forward line. Vinicius is expected to be awarded the Balon d'Or in the coming days and scored a sensational hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League earlier in the week. Mbappe, meanwhile, has six goals in nine apps for his new club so far.
For Barcelona, they have a resurgent Robert Lewandowski scoring for fun as the focal point of their attack. The experienced Pole is flanked by Raphinha, who scored a hat-trick of his own in Barca's 4-1 win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, and the electric Lamine Yamal. The 17-year-old continues to shine despite his young age and will be keen to make his mark on this historic fixture.
Predicted line-ups
Real Madrid suffered two big injuries in their match against Bayern Munich and Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo will now both miss the match against Barcelona. David Alaba and Dani Carvajal remain unavailable but Brahim Diaz is back.
Barcelona's injury problems are easing at the right time with Frenkie de Jong, Dani Olmo and Gavi all available for this one after long layoffs. However, Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres, Andreas Christensen and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are all still out.
Real Madrid: Lunin – Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy – Tchouameni, Valverde, Camavinga – Bellingham – Vinicius, Mbappe
Barcelona: Pena – Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde – Pedri, Gavi, De Jong – Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski
Anything else catch the eye?
This is a fixture that has historically always produced goals, and typically brilliant ones at that. The last five El Classicos have all produced at least three goals while the last two have produced five apiece. Over 3.5 goals to be scored on Saturday has been priced at 10/11 by Betfred.
This La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be played on Oct 26, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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