Real Madrid vs Real Betis Prediction: Back Jude to Score

The Champions League Final is still on the ledger for Carlo Ancelotti's side but before they can think of their Wembley date with Borussia Dortmund, they face Real Betis in their final La Liga match of the season.

Our Spanish Football expert Mark Sochon expects a strong XI to be named and their Englishman to find the back of the net. Read all about it with his Real Madrid vs Real Betis Predictions below...

Real Madrid play their final league game of the season at home to Real Betis on Saturday, with Carlo Ancelotti expected to name a strong line-up ahead of next weekend’s Champions League Final.

The Italian has been busy chopping and changing in La Liga in recent weeks, but his team were on a nine game winning streak that looked certain to become ten with Los Blancos leading 4-1 at the break against Villarreal last weekend with Arda Güler scoring twice.

However, the Second Half, or at least the first chunk of it, was as bad as Real Madrid have been all season with Alexander Sørloth scoring four goals in the space of 17 minutes either side of the break as the Yellow Submarine came back to draw an extraordinary game 4-4.

The main takeaway from that seems to be that Éder Militão is by no means ready to start a Champions League Final next week having only recently returned from an ACL injury. That will present an opportunity to Nacho who has improved as the season has gone on and Ancelotti will be very keen to see a better defensive display here given Alavés also posed a lot of problems for Real Madrid the week before last.

Aside from being a useful warm-up for their big date at Wembley, Saturday night will also be all about Toni Kroos who announced his decision to retire from all football this week at the age of just 34.

The German has been an exceptional player for Real Madrid over the past decade and is still very much at the top of his game with Kroos a key factor in what has been a very successful season so far for the white half of the Spanish capital.

He’s sure to get the send-off he deserves from the Santiago Bernabéu and he could take the concept of going out at the top to a whole new level if he can secure silverware with both club and country this summer before hanging up his boots.

Real Betis provide the opposition and they have enough quality in their ranks to make this more than just a Toni Kroos testimonial, even allowing for their mounting injury problems.

There was disappointment last weekend for the Seville club with a 2-0 home defeat against Real Sociedad in what was largely billed as a Europa League play-off.

Conference League football is the consolation prize for Manuel Pellegrini and his team. The 70-year-old has got this side playing well again in recent weeks, but some untimely injuries put a late dent in their European charge, with key midfielders Isco and Guido Rodríguez missing the defeat to La Real.

It has been a mixed campaign overall for Betis who struggled to make any impact in Europe and will miss out on a top six finish for the first time in four years. There has been quite a high turnover of players though and that looks set to continue this summer with young centre back Chadi Riad expected to complete a transfer to Crystal Palace in the coming days.

He should still start in Madrid though, with Betis short on alternative options as Pellegrini’s men target what would be a fifth win in eight outings in La Liga overall.

Team News:

Carlo Ancelotti is expected to keep it pretty simple and just pick his best line-up with this being viewed as a warm-up for a much more important game next weekend.

That will mean the likes of Arda Güler drop to the bench, despite some bright displays from several of Real Madrid’s fringe players. They remain without David Alaba and

Aurélien Tchouaméni due to injuries, with the latter now set to miss the Champions League Final.

Real Betis have considerably more selection issues with nine players absent due to injury. There’ll be no Bernabéu return for Isco who is injured along with Chimy Ávila, Cédric Bakambu and Pablo Fornals which leaves Pellegrini short on attacking options.

The visitors are also expected to be missing Guido Rodríguez, Germán Pezzella, William Carvalho and Marc Bartra while Rui Silva has been dealing with a bout of gastroenteritis meaning veteran Claudio Bravo looks likely to start in goal.

Real Madrid vs Real Betis Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Real Madrid vs Real Betis market page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Real Madrid head into the game as the clear 1/4 favourites, with the Draw priced at 9/2 while Real Betis are on offer at 15/2.

The visitors actually have a great recent record on this ground and have kept a clean sheet on five of their last six trips to play Real Madrid in La Liga, including a 2-0 win here on the final day in 2019 and a 0-0 draw on the final day in 2022. If you fancy a repeat, you can back Double Chance - Draw or Real Betis at 13/5 while Manuel Pellegrini’s team are priced at 12/1 to keep a clean sheet on Saturday.

Much of the focus will be on Toni Kroos as he plays at the Santiago Bernabéu for the final time. The legendary midfielder is priced at 11/4 to score anytime, while you can use the #PickYourPunt tool to back Kroos to score from outside of the box at 6/1 or register 1+ assists at 21/10.

If you fancy Los Blancos to put on a show and make a statement ahead of next week’s Champions League Final, you can back Real Madrid and Over 3.5 Goals at 6/5 while Real Madrid to win to nil is priced at 7/5.

The Goals markets point towards this being quite high scoring, with Both Teams to Score available at 8/13. However, the recent history of this fixture points very much in the opposite direction, with three of the last four clashes in Madrid ending goalless. You can back a 0-0 Draw at 28/1 while Under 2.5 Goals is priced at 9/4 on Saturday.

Bet 1 - Real Madrid -1.00 Handicap @ 7/10

The collapse at Villarreal last weekend felt like something of a wake-up call for Real Madrid who had been in stunning form prior to that and they’ll be hungry to return to winning ways in their final game before the biggest game of their season.

Ancelotti will be looking for at least a very strong hour from his side and they’ll have just a little bit more incentive to put on a show now given the Kroos news. With so many players out and nothing to play for, it’s hard to see Real Betis being as difficult opponents as they have been in recent years in this fixture and I’m backing Real Madrid -1.00 Handicap at 7/10.

Bet 2 - Jude Bellingham to score anytime @ 9/10

While all the focus will rightly be on Kroos, this game will also see Jude Bellingham complete an unbelievable first season in La Liga. There has been precious little wrong with his all-round play, but it’s his ability to score goals that has taken everyone by surprise, with the Englishman needing just one more to hit 20 league goals in what will be just his 28th appearance in the Spanish top flight.

While his goalscoring form did dip a little bit during the middle of the season, he should feature in his preferred role here just behind the two strikers and Bellingham has netted in each of his last three home league games.

The 20-year-old scored on the opening weekend back in August in Bilbao and I’m backing Bellingham to score anytime at 9/10 here to round off a dream debut campaign in Spain.

You can check out Mark's La Liga Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...