Real Madrid will be bidding to make it seven straight wins in all competitions at the start of the 2022-23 campaign when they return to La Liga action against Mallorca on Sunday afternoon.
Los Blancos, who are top of the table, will enter the match off the back of a 3-0 victory over Celtic in the Champions League, while 11th-placed Mallorca drew 1-1 with Girona in the league last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Real Madrid enjoyed a brilliant 2021-22 campaign, winning a La Liga and Champions League double, and they have already claimed silverware for this season, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the UEFA Super Cup on August 10.
Los Blancos have also made a perfect start to their La Liga campaign, beating Almeria, Celta Vigo, Espanyol and Real Betis to sit top of the division on 12 points, two points clear of second-placed Barcelona, who will believe that they can launch a strong challenge for the title this term.
Carlo Ancelotti's side were in Champions League action on Tuesday evening, meanwhile, recording a 3-0 victory over Celtic in Glasgow courtesy of goals from Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard.
Real Madrid have three more games before the international break, welcoming RB Leipzig to Bernabeu in the Champions League next week before facing Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby on September 18.
Ancelotti's team have not lost at Bernabeu in La Liga since Barcelona beat them 4-0 back in March, while they are unbeaten against Mallorca in Madrid since May 2009, including a 6-1 victory over the Pirates in the corresponding league fixture last term.
© Reuters
Mallorca finished 16th in La Liga last season on their return to the top flight, and they are bidding to make it successive campaigns at this level of football for the first time since 2013.
Los Bermellones opened their 2022-23 campaign with a goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao before suffering a 2-1 defeat at home to Real Betis in their second match of the season.
Mallorca have taken four points from their last two games, though, recording a 2-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano on August 27 before playing out a 1-1 draw with Girona last time out, which has left them in 11th spot in the table.
Javier Aguirre's side will take on Real Madrid and Barcelona in two of their next three matches, and they are not the fixtures that will determine whether the team can avoid relegation this term.
Mallorca do have a recent win over Los Blancos to their name, though, triumphing 1-0 in October 2019, and the visitors will be the fresher of the two sides, having not been in action since last Saturday.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Real Madrid will definitely be without the services of Karim Benzema and Eder Militao for this weekend's contest, with the duo picking up injuries against Celtic last time out.
As a result, Hazard could be given the nod as a false nine, while Antonio Rudiger is likely to line up alongside David Alaba in the middle of the defence.
Jesus Vallejo is back in group training and has been named in the squad, but Alvaro Odriozola is again on the sidelines with a muscular problem.
Eduardo Camavinga is pushing for a spot in the side, meanwhile, and the France international could potentially take the place of Modric, with the Croatian set to be rested; Rodrygo could also come in for Federico Valverde.
As for Mallorca, Dominik Greif remains on the sidelines with a hip problem, while Iddrisu Baba, Amath Ndiaye and Angel Rodriguez are also expected to miss out through injury.
The visitors are again expected to line up in a 3-5-2 formation for this match, with Vedat Muriqi being joined in the final third of the field by Lee Kang-in.
Meanwhile, Antonio Sanchez and Dani Rodriguez are also set to retain their spots in the side despite head coach Aguirre having a number of options for change in midfield.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Mendy; Kroos, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Rodrygo, Hazard, Vinicius
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Copete, Raillo, Valjent; Maffeo, Battaglia, Sanchez, Rodriguez, Costa; Muriqi, Kang-in
We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca
Mallorca are certainly capable of making this a tricky encounter for Real Madrid, but we are finding it difficult to back anything other than a home success. Los Blancos will be missing their star forward but still have more than enough quality to collect all three points in front of their own supporters this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
