Real Madrid vs. Espanyol: Match Preview, Odds & Predictions

On Saturday night, Real Madrid, the reigning champion, will host an Espanyol team riding high in the Spanish league. Real Madrid aims to extend their winning streak to three games.

While Espanyol are in twelfth place in the league with seven points, Los Blancos are in third place with eleven points from their first five La Liga games. Espanyol have won their previous two games.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Although the incumbent La Liga champions Real Madrid have not yet found their peak performance this season, they have gotten off to a good start, earning 11 points from three wins and two draws in five matches. They are now in third place, four points behind Barcelona, leading the league.

In Carlo Ancelotti's first three league matches in charge, a certain Kylian Mbappe went scoreless—a draw with Mallorca, a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid, and a 0-0 draw with Las Palmas.

On the other hand, Real Madrid won their last two league matches with a combined score of 2-0 over Real Betis and Real Sociedad. On Wednesday, they kicked off their 2024-25 Champions League campaign with a 3-1 victory against Stuttgart.

After their next league matches against Espanyol, Alaves, and Atletico Madrid, Los Blancos will travel to Lille in early October for their second Champions League encounter.

With Real Madrid's three-game winning streak against Espanyol in the league, including a 3-1 triumph at Bernabeu in the 2022–23 season, and their home league record against Saturday's opponents being undefeated since April 1996, the away team faces a formidable challenge in this match.

Accusations of tension between the club's offensive players persist, but Jude Bellingham has categorically refuted them.

At the same time, Espanyol will be attempting to establish a foothold in La Liga after regaining promotion in the 2023–24 Segunda Division playoffs.

After a slow start to the season in which they lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad and Real Valladolid, the White and Blues have won their past three games, including a thrilling 0-0 away tie with Atletico at the tail end of August.

After a 2-1 pre-international break win over Rayo Vallecano and a 3-2 win over Alaves last weekend, Manolo Gonzalez's squad is riding high in La Liga.

With seven points from five matches, the Catalan team is in 12th place in the standings, which is a solid start to the season. Javi Puado scored three times in the home win last time out.

The odds are not in Espanyol's favour heading into this matchup with Real Madrid, as they have let in seven goals in their last two league visits to the Bernabeu. Moreover, their past seven victories over Los Blancos in the league have been in front of their home fans.

Real Madrid x Espanyol Team News

Due to injury, this weekend's match against Espanyol will see Real Madrid without Brahim Diaz, Dani Ceballos, Eduardo Camavinga, and David Alaba.

The England international, who returned from injury to play 80 minutes in the Champions League encounter against Stuttgart, is expected to start for a second straight game.

Although Eder Militao will return to the lineup after starting on the bench against Stuttgart, it's safe to assume that Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo will all start up front again.

Endrick became Real Madrid's youngest-ever Champions League striker against Stuttgart, scoring his second goal for the club. However, the 18-year-old is expected to start the match on the bench again.

Espanyol head coach Gonzalo Martínez will almost certainly use the same starting lineup that faced Alaves at the start of the match, including hat trick hero Puado.

Alejo Veliz, a 21-year-old attacker on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, will likely keep playing in the final third at Bernabeu after scoring once in five league outings this season.

Although the visiting team has not had any new health difficulties leading up to this match, two players—Fernando Calero and Edu Exposito—will be unable to play because of ongoing injuries.

Our predictions

Real Madrid will win over 2.5 goals @ 1.48 on Sky247.ng.

Real Madrid, which has struggled to get going this season, might find themselves in a tough position against Espanyol. However, we are still rooting for Real Madrid to secure another victory since we don't see the visitors pulling off an upset.

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