Real Madrid will take on Espanyol on Saturday night as Carlo Ancelotti's men look to close the gap on Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table.
Los Blancos will be quite pleased with how they have started the campaign despite trailing Barcelona by four points. They are unbeaten in all competitions and appear to be improving with each game.
Espanyol also come into the match in good form after winning their last two La Liga matches so this won't be a simple match for the hosts.
How the bookies view it: The hosts are huge favourites
Real Madrid are favourites for almost every match they play so it isn't a surprise that they are odds-on to beat Espanyol at the Bernabeu this weekend. They are perhaps overly short, though, with Betfred pricing a home win at 1/7 and an away win at 16/1. The draw, which Espanyol would be more than happy with, has been priced at 7/1.
Recent head-to-head: Madrid dominance
Real Madrid rarely get caught out on a regular basis by teams they should be beating and they dominate their head-to-head record with Espanyol. Los Blancos have won seven of their last eight matches against Espanyol and haven't lost to them at the Bernabeu since 1996. Their most recent victory in this fixture came in October 2021 when they recorded a 2-1 victory at home.
Players to watch: Questions answered but more are raised about new Real front three
It took a little longer than expected but Kylian Mbappe is starting to look like the player that Real Madrid were expecting when they signed him this summer. The sight of Mbappe hitting his stride for Madrid spells danger not only for the rest of La Liga but the rest of Europe too.
Mbappe, widely considered one of the best players in the world, has now scored in consecutive matches for the first time for Real Madrid after following up his goal against Real Sociedad with a strike against Stuttgart in the Champions League.
Although the Frenchman is answering his critics, more questions are now being raised about Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. Neither man looks totally comfortable playing alongside Mbappe yet but the season is still young and there is plenty of time for the trio to knit together.
Predicted line-ups
Real Madrid still have several first team players out injured, with Brahim Diaz, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and David Alaba all ruled out of this one. Unlike their opponents, Espanyol have had a week to prepare for this fixture and are expected to select the same starting XI that defeated Alaves last week.
Real Madrid: Courtois – Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy – Tchouameni, Valverde, Bellingham – Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius
Espanyol: Garcia – El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero – Kral, Tejero, Aguado, Carreras – Puado, Veliz
Anything else catch the eye?
Real Madrid have scored two or more goals in four of their last five matches and with Kylian Mbappe now hitting his stride, those numbers are only likely to continue and improve. Real Madrid to score over 2.5 goals on Saturday has been priced at 4/6 by Betfred.
This La Liga match between Real Madrid and Espanyol will be played on Sep 21, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Espanyol prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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