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Real Madrid will welcome Espanyol to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in La Liga on Saturday. The hosts are unbeaten in five league games thus far while Periquitos have two wins and two losses apiece.
Madrid made it two wins on the spin in the league last week with a comfortable 2-0 away win over Real Sociedad. Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot in the second half in that win.
They extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 home triumph over Stuttgart in the UEFA Champions League campaign opener on Tuesday. All four goals were scored in the second half and Mbappe's 46th-minute strike was canceled out by Denis Undav in the 68th minute. Late goals from Antonio Rüdiger and Endrick helped them secure the three points from the match.
The visitors suffered back-to-back losses in their first two games of the season but have seen an upturn in form, recording two wins on the trot. Javi Puado's hat-trick helped them record a 3-2 home win over Deportivo Alaves last week.
Real Madrid vs Espanyol Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams have a long-standing rivalry and have crossed paths 192 times in all competitions. As expected, the capital club have the upper hand in these meetings with 115 wins. The Barcelona-based visitors have 43 wins and 34 games have ended in draws.
- They last met in the 2022-23 La Liga campaign and Madrid registered 3-1 wins in the home and away games.
- Real Madrid have an unbeaten home record in this fixture in the 21st century.
- Espanyol have won just two of their last 31 meetings against the hosts.
- Madrid are on a 37-game unbeaten streak in La Liga. They are unbeaten in their last 36 competitive home games.
Real Madrid vs Espanyol Prediction
Los Blancos have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their season and are currently on a three-game winning streak. They have won nine of their last 10 La Liga home games while keeping nine clean sheets and are strong favorites.
Brahim Diaz, Dani Ceballos, Eduardo Camavinga, and David Alaba remain the only absentees for them in this match. Carlo Ancelotti is likely to make a few changes to the starting XI as Madrid will play two league games next week.
Periquitos are unbeaten in their last three games, recording two wins on the trot. After failing to score in their first three games of the season, they have scored five goals in their last two games. Nonetheless, they have won just one of their last nine away games in La Liga, which is a cause for concern.
Fernando Calero did not recover in time from an injury to feature last week and is a doubt for this match. Edu Expósito is a long-term absentee due to an ACL injury.
Considering Madrid's dominance in this fixture and their unbeaten start to their season, we back the hosts to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Real Madrid 2-1 Espanyol
Real Madrid vs Espanyol Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Real Madrid to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: At least one goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
Tip 4: Kylian Mbappé to score or assist any time - Yes
