Actual Madrid are again in La Liga motion on Saturday after they tackle Rayo Vallecano at Vallecas, which may transfer them to the summit of Spain’s prime flight. Los Blancos are second behind Barcelona with one sport in hand however simply two factors off whereas Los Franjirrojos are twelfth and are available into this having received consecutive video games.

Rayo booked their place within the third spherical of the Copa del Rey by beating Unionistas de Salamanca earlier this month earlier than a slim win over Valencia within the Spanish topflight. Inigo Perez’s males have gotten eight factors from seven residence video games to date this season, whereas Actual recurrently drop factors on the highway having drawn three and misplaced one.

The hosts managed to attract each of their video games towards their Madrid rivals final 12 months, however their total report of seven wins from 44 video games will not be fairly studying. On common, Los Franjirrojos concede 2.5 targets per video games towards Los Blancos which means that this one may get ugly if the house aspect can not hold issues tight.

Actual picked up an enormous UEFA Champions League win away at Atalanta BC and emerged prime in a five-goal thriller. The European titleholders are actually twentieth within the league part desk with 9 factors from six video games, whereas Carlo Ancelotti’s males additionally beat Girona comfortably final weekend having gone all the way down to Athletic Membership in Bilbao earlier than that.

The Spanish giants have been below-par to date, however they’ll now eye a UCL knockout part berth in addition to a severe La Liga title tilt. It’s all again in Actual’s arms regardless of their sluggish early kind, which is ominous given how sturdy they normally are as soon as they get up every season — particularly on the continental stage.

Here is our storylines, how one can watch the match and extra:

Find out how to watch and odds

• Date: Saturday, December 14 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Estadio de Vallecas – Madrid, Spain
• Watch: ESPN Deportes | Stream: Fubo (attempt without spending a dime)
• Odds: Rayo +480; Draw +300; Actual -175

This season to date

Rayo have received 5, drawn 4 and misplaced six from 15 La Liga video games to take a seat twelfth within the standings with 19 factors total, which is sufficient to be six away from the relegation zone. Pretty strong defensively, they’ve solely conceded 16 occasions throughout 15 video games, however targets have been briefly provide with simply 15 to their title which is a shared fourth-worst return within the Spanish topflight. Actual are second within the rankings and simply two factors behind Barcelona however have a sport in hand with this sport presumably sending them prime a minimum of till Barca play Leganes on Sunday. Los Blancos have conceded simply 13 targets from 16 video games however have scored 34 occasions which is second solely to Hansi Flick’s leaders who’ve scored 16 extra.

Crew information

Rayo: Pelayo Fernandez and Raul de Tomas ae out however in any other case the hosts have a reasonably full squad to select from. Randy Nteka is prone to proceed as a makeshift striker whereas Alvaro Garcia, Isi Palazon and Jorge de Frutos ought to be the entrance three with Pathe Ciss within the midfield. Former Actual man James Rodriguez has been used sparingly to date since his arrival and is unlikely to function prominently right here.

Potential Rayo XI: Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarria; Ciss, Valentin; De Frutos, Palazon, A Garcia; Nteka.

Actual: Kylian Mbappe is out and can also be anticipated to overlook the ultimate of the Intercontinental Cup, whereas Jude Bellingham ought to be match regardless of worries post-Atalanta. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo each returned from harm within the UCL and will begin with Rodrygo anticipated to play centrally, and Dani Ceballos additionally anticipated to start out. Aurelien Tchouameni ought to play in protection once more with Ferland Mendy, Eduardo Camavinga, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba all nonetheless lacking.

Potential Actual XI: Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, F Garcia; Ceballos, Valverde; Brahim, Bellingham, Vinicius; Rodrygo.

Prediction

Actual’s prolific kind ought to see them ease previous Rayo who will attempt to hold them at bay however can solely actually aspire to holding them to a low rating versus outscoring them to win. A one or two-goal margin sounds about proper. Choose: Rayo 0, Actual 2.