LA LIGA champions Real Madrid have a battle on their hands to retain their title this year as they are trying to play catch-up to Barcelona. Real Madrid will kick off at Leganes on Sunday, November 24th at the Estádio Municipal de Butarque.
How the bookies view it: Real Madrid clear favourites
With little surprise, Real Madrid are strong odds-on favourites to collect the win, trading at around 4/9 ahead of the weekend. It has been far from a perfect season for them, but they are in the title hunt and are expected to beat Leganes who are lingering in the bottom half of the table. The hosts are a quote of 6/1 to pick up a rare win against Los Blancos.
Recent head-to-head: Real Madrid defending unbeaten record
From eight previous clashes with Leganes in La Liga, Real Madrid are undefeated with a W6 D2 record. Leganes have had success against Los Blancos before, winning a couple of Copa del Rey ties against them down the years.
In last season’s corresponding league fixture, Leganes battled to an unexpected 2-2 draw, giving them back-to-back home draws against Los Blancos. In all competitions, Leganes are unbeaten in three at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque against Real Madrid with a W1 D2 record.
Players to watch: Vini Jr to pick up where he left off?
Kylian Mbappe’s season has been underwhelming, but that hasn’t stopped the Frenchman from occupying the position at the head of all the goalscorer markets. It’s worth giving him a pass and instead looking at Vini Jr who himself hasn’t had a stellar campaign. But a hattrick against Osasuna in Madrid’s last game before the international break by him, means that he is the club’s top scorer for this campaign.
Juan Cruz has been the main source of goals for Leganes this season, chipping in with four in thirteen league appearances. They obviously don't carry the attacking threat that Real Madrid do, and have scored almost half as few as Sunday’s opponents have done in the campaign.
Predicted Lineups
Leganes have Renato Tapia and Enric Franquesa as newly sidelined players, so they will be forced into some changes. Real Madrid could see the return of keeper Thibault Courtois after a layoff but is missing a host of players, including Aurelian Tchouameni, David Alaba, and Rodrygo.
Leganes: Dmitrovic; Alti, Gonzalez, Nastasic, Hernandez; Chicco, Cisse; Cruz, Brasanac, El Haddadi; De la Fuente
Real Madrid: Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Mendy; Modric, Camavinga, Bellingham; Diaz, Mbappe, Vinicius
Anything else catches the eye?
Leganes hold a W3 D1 L2 home record this season and it’s that home form which has been propping up their campaign. Their two home defeats came in their two matches played against teams currently residing in the top half of the table, however, so they haven’t proven themselves against strong opposition this season by any stretch.
Leganes average a goal per home game and have done well defensively, shipping just four times in six home fixtures. They are currently running on a three-match clean sheet streak at home, and they will need to heavily rely on that defence on the weekend to get anything out of this game.
Real Madrid have a W2 D3 L0 away record this season. They have only conceded four times on their travels, so this may not be the high-scoring affair it is expected to be. Adding to that is the fact that Real Madrid average under 1.5 goals per away game in this campaign.
This La Liga match between Leganes and Real Madrid will be played on Nov 24, 2024 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Leganes vs Real Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
