Espanyol vs Real Madrid Prediction, Preview & Betting tips

League leaders Real Madrid head into this game as firm favourites against relegation-battling Espanyol due to the overall quality in their squad, as well as their superior head-to-head record against the hosts.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side have won all of their last four matches against Espanyol while scoring three or more times in each of these encounters. On top of this, Kylian Mbappé looks to be hitting good form, as the Frenchman has scored 15 times in 19 league games for Los Blancos, including a hat-trick last time out at Real Valladolid.

On top of Mbappe’s burst of goalscoring form, Real have look to have turned a corner this season as they’ve won all of their last five matches, scoring 20 goals in the process.

Prediction: Espanyol 1-3 Real Madrid

In La Liga, 18th-place Espanyol faces the unenviable task of playing host to top of the table Real Madrid at RCDE Stadium.

Date: 01/02/2025

Location: RCDE Stadium

Time: 8pm

Espanyol have had a tricky campaign thus far, as they sit 18th in the table with 20 points from 21 matches, however, they are just one point adrift of the safety zone behind Deportivo Alaves.

The home side have a good home record this season, as 18 of their 20 points have came at RCDE Stadium, seeing them have the seventh-best home record in Spain’s top-flight, however, they are coming up against a Real Madrid side that have the second-best away record in the division (Real will have the best away record should they win here), as the visitors have picked up 22 points from 11 away games.

Manolo González’s side had a solid start to their La Liga campaign, as they actually earned seven points from their first five matches, however, since then, Espanyol have won just three of their last 16 games.

As far as cup competitions go, Espanyol were dumped out of the Copa del Rey 2-0 away at Barbastro after thrashing San Tirso 4-0 in the First Round.

Real looked as though they would have great difficult retaining their La Liga crown this season due to Barcelona’s blistering start to life under Hansi Flick, as well as the fact that Los Blancos won just seven of their first 11 league games, which included a heavy 4-0 defeat to Barca. Since then, Ancelotti’s side have eight of their last 10 La Liga matches, seeing them sit four points clear of Atlético Madrid on 49 points from 21 matches.

The visitors have also managed to advance in both the Copa del Rey and Champions League, following wins over Minera (5-0) and Celta Vigo (5-2) in the former and despite winning just two of their first five matches in the latter competition, seeing the 15-times European Cup/Champions League winners scrape through to the Round of 32 play-off after wins over Atalanta (3-2), Red Bull Salzburg (5-1) and Brest (3-0).

Espanyol versus Real Madrid will be shown live on Premier Sports 2 and LaLigaTV.

Espanyol

Brian Olivan will miss Espanyol’s clash with Real due to injury, while ex-West Ham midfielder Alex Kral is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Real Madrid

Carlo Ancelotti has four injury absences to contend with, as Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Jesus Vallejo and Eduardo Camavinga are all ruled out of Saturday night’s late kick-off.

Espanyol

Espanyol enter this game with one win, three draws and one defeat in their last four matches.

The home side earned one of their two away points in the whole of the 2024/25 campaign via a 1-1 draw at Sevilla last time out after beating Real Valladolid 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Javi Puado and Roberto Fernandez.

Prior to the aforementioned matches, Espanyol earned two 1-1 home draws against Leganes and Valencia on either side of a 1-0 loss at Las Palmas.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid are in red-hot form of late, as they have won all of their last five matches since being thrashed 5-2 by Barcelona in the Supercopa de España final.

Los Merengues kicked-off this run of form with a 5-2 win over Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey, before earning an emphatic win at home to Las Palmas on 19th January where Kylian Mbappé (2), Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo all got on the scoresheet.

Following those games, Real earned further wins over RB Salzburg (5-1) and Brest (3-0) in the Champions League on either side of a 3-0 win at Real Valladolid.

Notably, Mbappé has scored seven times in his last five matches, while Brazilian forward Rodrygo also find himself in a rich vein of form, firing in five goals in his last four appearances.

Throughout the 2024/25 season, you can find our Prediction content here with expert analysis via our team at Footy Accumulators. On top of this, we provide free exclusive betting tips and markets that run throughout the week that could also be of interest:

• Accumulator Tips
• Bet of the Day
• Both Teams to Score Tips
• Treble Tips
• RequestABets
• BuildABet Tips
• Smart Acca Tips
• Other Tips