La Liga: Real Madrid Hope for Home Comfort in Vallecas

Rayo Vallecano vs Real Madrid

La Liga leaders Real Madrid take the short trip across the city on Sunday to take on Rayo Vallecano in a mouth-watering Primera Division clash.  

Los Blancos fell to defeat in Liverpool on Tuesday as they lost their 100 per cent record in the Champions League; and now Xabi Alonso must lift his troops to take on Inigo Perez’s Rayo Vallecano, who would love nothing more than to make it a bad week all round for Los Blancos. 

The hosts sit in tenth place in the La Liga table, losing to Villarreal last week after racking up three consecutive victories and the home fans will try to make their 15,000 capacity stadium as unwelcoming as possible. The Rayito were in European action too, beating Lech Poznan in the Europa Conference League and, while they were at home so with no travel complications, they have two fewer days to recover than their visitors.        

 

Talking Points

Vallecas is a tough place to go   

A 3-2 win over Poznan made for a good night for the Rayito fans who watched their team recover from a two-goal half time deficit to blow away their visitors in the second half, experienced winger Alvaro Garcia scoring an injury time winner. It was a rare glut of goals for the home supporters who cheered their team to a 1-0 win against Deportivo Alaves in their last La Liga game in Vallecas.  

Rayo also picked up a hard-earned 1-0 win away to Real Sociedad, beat Shkendija 2-0 at home in the Conference League and in they drew 1-1 with Celta Vigo and Barcelona on home ground. Across their six home league games Perez’s side has scored just three and conceded three goals with a centre back pairing of Frenchman Florian Lejeune and Senegalese star Nobel Mendy standing firm. They had an off day away to Villarreal last week, as the Yellow Submarine helped themselves to a 4-0 win. 

The Rayito defence will be well drilled for the visit of the one of the most dangerous attacks in world football; and will hope they are as toothless as they were on Merseyside.       

 

Can Los Blancos’ shake off a bad night in Liverpool 

Real Madrid tightened their grip on top spot last week with a resounding 4-0 win over Valencia and the La Liga 2025 betting odds are right behind Alonso’s men. But there is a long way to go and the Los Blancos boss must have been concerned by the way his team was outplayed by Arne Slot’s Liverpool on Tuesday, a team which has been hopelessly out of form, losing four of five games in October, including a defeat to Brentford. But the Bees managed to do what Los Blancos failed to achieve, winning and scoring three goals. The Real Madrid attack was strangely subdued on Tuesday with Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, both so impressive in recent weeks, totally ineffective. Keeper Thibaut Courtous was the Spaniards’ best player by a mile, saving them from a serious drubbing.  

So can Alonso put this down to just a bad night at the office? 

Well Los Blancos’ La Liga 2025 results have been impressive indeed, winning ten of 11 Primera Division games which have given them a five point lead over Barcelona. But if they slip up then the gap will most likely reduce to two or three points, with the Blaugrana taking on Celta Vigo on Sunday night.  

While Mbappe has been in scintillating form, until Tuesday, scoring 13 goals and making two assists, Brazil star Vinicius Junior still cuts an unhappy figure, playing second string to the Frenchman, in terms of wages and performance… and that is a problem Alonso needs to solve.       

 

History 

Rayo Vallecano have enjoyed some modest success at home to Real Madrid in recent years, winning two, losing six and drawing two. The last two meetings in Vallecas have ended in a draw, though the last time the two clubs met, at the Santiago Bernabeu in March, Los Blancos ran out 2-1 winners with goals from Mbappe and Vinicius.     

Both teams are in good recent form; Vallecano have won four, drawn one and lost one of the last six games while Los Blancos have won five and lost one.   

 

Betting Tip

Rayo are at SBOTOP odds of 6.50 to win this game with the draw at 4.50 and a Los Blancos win is heavily odds on at 1.44. The Rayito are a tough nut to crack at home and the Double Chance Rayo and Draw is a 2.70…but I’m hedging on a low scoring game. 

   

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