Matchday 15 La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Celta will take place on December 7 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Real Madrid – Celta: prediction and betting odds, statistics.
Real Madrid
The past few weeks have been tense for the club: three successive draws cost the Madrid side top spot in La Liga, and there have been rumours in the media about the possible departure of head coach Xabi Alonso. Despite that, last Wednesday Real shrugged off the pressure and comfortably dismantled Athletic (3-0). Their winless run ended, and the team has now gone eight league matches without defeat (5 wins, 3 draws). Overall, Real have lost just one of their 15 opening La Liga fixtures this season, winning 11 of them. They currently sit second in the table, narrowly behind Barcelona. Notably, Real have conceded only 13 goals in the league so far — the best defensive record alongside Villarreal — while scoring 32, behind only Barcelona (42).
- Real have won all six of their home La Liga matches this season.
- The team have scored at least two goals in five consecutive home league matches.
- Their unbeaten home sequence in this competition stretches to 14 matches (13 wins, 1 defeat).
Predicted lineup Real Madrid (4-4-2)*
Thibaut Courtois – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger, Álvaro Carreras – Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jude Bellingham – Vinícius Júnior, Kylian Mbappé.
Defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal will miss the game through injury. The availability of midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, and defenders Dean Henderson and David Alaba, is in doubt.
Celta
It looked like the team were improving and closing in on the European places, but after a breakthrough stretch that yielded three wins in four La Liga matches, Celta finished the autumn period with a home defeat to Espanyol (0-1). The Galicians failed to score despite having been on the scoresheet in 12 consecutive league games prior to that. The club have conceded in 15 of their last 16 La Liga matches. As a result, Celta slipped to 12th in the table and are eight points shy of sixth place, which would secure a European spot. Notably, three of the side’s four league defeats this season have come at home. Before the trip to the Santiago Bernabéu, Celta had won three consecutive away La Liga matches, collecting 11 points on the road — more than all but Barcelona and Villarreal (13 each) and Real Madrid (18).
- The Galicians have covered the +1.5 handicap in 18 consecutive La Liga away games.
- Their unbeaten run in this competition has reached five matches (3 wins, 2 defeats).
- Both teams have scored in 11 of Celta’s last 13 La Liga matches.
Predicted lineup Celta (3-4-3)*
Andrei Radu – Carl Starfelt, Javi Rodríguez, Marcos Alonso – Sergio Carreira, Fran Beltrán, Miguel Román, Javi Rueda – Borja Iglesias, Braian Zaragoza, Iago Aspas.
Match prediction Real Madrid – Celta
At one point Real hit a rut with three successive La Liga draws, but last Wednesday they finally broke through, cruising to a 3-0 win over Athletic in Bilbao. That result should ease the psychological pressure on the side. Moreover, Xabi Alonso’s team return to their home stadium for the first time in a while, which is a significant factor. This season Real have won all six home league matches, and four of the last five home fixtures have produced over 2.5 goals. Overall, their home winning run in La Liga stands at nine matches.
Celta continue to fight each opponent but suffer from a lack of consistency. In their last three league rounds they recorded two defeats and a win over modest Alavés. They face one of their least-favoured opponents: Celta have failed to beat Real in 22 consecutive La Liga meetings, and have managed only two draws in that period. Before this fixture Celta had lost 10 straight league matches to the Madrid side. It is also notable that seven of the last ten encounters between the teams produced at least three goals.
The prediction – Real Madrid to win and Over 2.5 goals
* For each team the starting XI shown is from their previous match in this competition.
