Vallecano vs. Real Madrid: Preview and betting tips

Real Madrid will play the 13th round of La Liga on Monday. They travel to Rayo Vallecano, who are surprisingly in the top half of the table. What to expect from their confrontation and what to bet on?

Vallecano have picked themselves up during October and are now four games without a loss. They have jumped to a quiet mid-table position, currently even closer to the European Cup than relegation. From ninth place, they are three points behind seventh-placed Bilbao.

Real dropped to second place after Barcelona’s win on Saturday, but is only two points behind them with a game to spare. It remains the only team that has not lost in the league, having dropped only four points from two draws so far.

The home side rely on Isi Palazón, the Spanish winger has scored three times and assisted twice. Point forward and Spanish U21 international Sergio Camello has netted two goals and assisted on two others.

Karim Benzema, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, returns to action after injury, scoring six times and assisting once so far this season. Brazilian winger Vinicius is building on last year’s results. He has netted ten goals and assisted on five others.

Vallecano relies on a well-functioning defence, scoring only twice in the last four games and keeping a clean sheet twice. A total of 14 goals conceded is also not a bad number.

Real, on the other hand, have the league’s best offense with 29 shots after Barcelona. It’s also scoring in the Champions League, gave Celtic a five in the week, and through all competitions has scored two or more goals in five of the last six games.

Given Benzema’s return and Real’s scoring form, I think the visitors will win and return to top spot. The triumph over Celtic should help them to a comfortable win, a number of players have boosted their confidence thanks to this game.