Brest vs Real Madrid Prediction: Mbappe can score for sixth straight match at Brest

Our Madrid-based La Liga Betting Expert gets the assignment to cover his local team in the Champions League again this Wednesday, as Real Madrid travel north to take on Brest. TNT Sports 6 at 20:00 is the TV channel set to broadcast this match.

You can read his full match preview below along with his two top betting tips as he takes us through his Brest vs Real Madrid Predictions for us on Betfred Insights...

*You can check out all of our Football Odds over at betfred.com

Surprise package Brest round off the league phase of their debut Champions League campaign on Wednesday, with a glamour home fixture against Real Madrid. 

The French side are currently a point and three places better off than the defending European champions in the standings. Both sides are guaranteed to at least enter the play-off round, but both will need a victory and a number of favours elsewhere, should they want to finish in the top eight. 

Brest have a better shot at the latter, but even a famous victory on Wednesday night most likely won't be enough, so it's the kind of night when fans and players of the French club can relax a little and just enjoy the occasion. 

Les Pirates had not played any European football before this season, so it has been an excellent campaign for Éric Roy and his team. They've been particularly strong at home, beating Sturm Graz and PSV Eindhoven in front of their own fans, whilst also drawing against German champions Bayer Leverkusen. 

A 4-0 win at RB Salzburg on matchday two, was also key in catapulting them into a position where they have Champions League knockout football to look forward to, regardless of the result here. 

While their European form has dipped, with defeats in away games against Barcelona and Shakhtar Donetsk seeing them drop out of the top eight, Brest have picked up domestically of late.  

They've won seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, with a 1-0 victory at Le Havre in Ligue 1 at the weekend, taking them to the brink of the European positions. Punters might also be interested to note that they've gone 17 matches without a draw in all competitions, since holding Leverkusen in October. 

A draw here for Brest would almost certainly be enough to at least secure home advantage in the second leg of the play-off round. However, Real Madrid will most likely need to win the game to be certain of that, with Carlo Ancelotti's side surprisingly down in 16th place heading into the final matchday. 

That's the result of three defeats so far in this competition. They were beaten on their previous trip to France to play Lille in October, while losses against Milan and Liverpool in November, left Los Blancos in a difficult position after five matches. 

They picked up a vital 3-2 win at Atalanta on matchday six though, and having cruised past Salzburg last week, with braces from Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior in a 5-1 victory, there is no real pressure on their final fixture. That being said, Ancelotti is still expected to take it very seriously, with a higher finishing position likely to be advantageous in the knockout stage. 

With nine wins in their last 10 competitive matches, the momentum is building for Real Madrid. While they are not the outright favourites for this competition this season, with the kind of firepower they have at their disposal, Los Blancos should score goals against any team they come up against. 

That's certainly true if Kylian Mbappé can maintain his current form. The Frenchman returns to his homeland on the back of his first Real Madrid hat-trick, coming in the 3-0 victory at Real Valladolid in La Liga at the weekend. He has netted eight in his last five matches and his all-round game has also been better than it was earlier in the campaign. 

There are still issues for Ancelotti to address though. The Italian has opted to go public with his concerns about a leaky defence over the past week, and there surely needs to be improvements in that area, if they want to compete with the very best teams in this competition. 

Team News: 

There are injury problems for Brest, which may seriously hamper their chances of claiming a huge scalp in their final league phase match. Bradley Locko, Massadio Haïdara and Jordan Amavi are all struggling and are not expected to feature. 

The versatile Mama Baldé was also forced off at the weekend in Ligue 1 and is a major injury doubt, while the same goes for Jonas Martin and Julien Le Cardinal. 

As for Real Madrid, they are missing Vinícius to suspension again, with the Brazilian picking up his third Champions League yellow card in the Salzburg game last week. 

Eduardo Camavinga is nearing fitness, but won't feature here, while long-term absentees Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal are still sidelined. Light rotation is expected from the weekend lineup in Valladolid, with Lucas Vázquez, Ferland Mendy, Luka Modrić and Arda Güler the most likely options to come in. 

Brest vs Real Madrid Odds

Real Madrid are the clear favourites at 2/5 to win this game, despite an unconvincing European campaign to date. You can back Brest at 7/1, while the Draw is priced at 4/1. 

Both teams to score is on offer at 8/11, while if you're expecting plenty of goalmouth action, you can back Over 3.5 goals at 6/5, a winning bet in four of the last five Real Madrid matches. 

Los Blancos have certainly been scoring freely of late, and you can back Real Madrid and Over 2.5 goals at 10/11 here. The visitors are also available at 1/1 with a -1.00 Handicap, while you can back Real Madrid to win both halves at 2/1. 

Even without Vinícius, the Champions League holders are not short on goal threats, and there is a Price Boost available on this match, with Mbappé 2+ shots on target, Bellingham 2+ shots on target and Rodrygo 1+ shots on target, now available at 7/1. 

Alternatively, if you see the hosts making a real game of this, you can get odds of 12/5 for Brest to win either half. The French side are also available at 4/7 to score Over 0.5 goals, while you can back Over 1.5 home goals at 11/4. 

Bet 1 - Both teams to score & Over 2.5 goals @ 10/11 

"Obviously, there is no doubt about the quality of our players up front. We are trying to fix the rest."  

That was the slightly damning assessment of Ancelotti after his team's victory over Salzburg last week.  

It could also have been interpreted as a plea for defensive additions at a club that is notoriously reluctant to spend in January. However, with little sign of fresh blood coming in, it looks likely the Real Madrid boss will have to plough on, with the limited and in some cases unconvincing defensive options he has available to him. 

The likely result is that goals will continue to fly in at both ends in Real Madrid matches, and Brest will certainly fancy their chances of causing problems for their illustrious opponents here. With all of the last 14 games involving Los Blancos producing three or more goals, I'm backing Both teams to score and Over 2.5 goals at 10/11. 

Bet 2 - Kylian Mbappé to score anytime @ 4/5  

In contrast to the opening months of the season, when he frequently spurned chances and looked like a player carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, there is a real freedom to Mbappé's game right now and he's looking sharp and convincing in front of goal. 

There is also a growing belief in some quarters that he is much more effective when Vinícius doesn't play, which will again be the case here. While he will still most likely operate as the central striker in this game, the absence of the Brazilian, does allow Mbappé to just drift slightly to the left and take up positions where he is more effective. 

The 26-year-old scored on all five visits to Brest as a PSG player, and fresh from a hat-trick on Saturday, I'm backing Kylian Mbappé to score anytime at 4/5 here. 

Wednesday's Champions League Predictions:

The team here at Betfred Insights have you fully-covered for the final round of Champions League matches this Wednesday. You can check out all of our previews for the matches below:

Aston Villa vs Celtic Prediction: Hosts to win but no clean sheet
Barcelona vs Atalanta Prediction: Expect goals, goals, goals in the Catalan capital
Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague Prediction: Wirtz can secure qualification
Bayern Munich vs Slovan Bratislava Prediction: Kim to cash in for Kompany’s corner kings
Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk Prediction: Hosts may have to dig in against the Miners
Dinamo Zagreb vs AC Milan Prediction: Rossoneri to get the job done
Girona vs Arsenal Prediction: Gunners to keep another clean sheet
Inter Milan vs Monaco Prediction: Hosts to secure knockout place
Juventus vs Benfica Prediction: Two anytime scorer bets worth backing
Lille vs Feyenoord Prediction: Canadian to catch visitors cold in France
Manchester City vs Club Brugge: Citizens to dig deep for the result they need
PSV vs Liverpool Prediction: Hosts to overcome booking points handicap in Eindhoven
Red Bull Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid Prediction: Alvarez to come up with another goal
Sporting CP vs Bologna Prediction: Italians can halt Sporting’s Play-off progress
Sturm Graz vs RB Leipzig Prediction: Sesko can score in dead rubber
Stuttgart vs PSG Prediction: Barcola to rise to occasion again
Young Boys vs Red Star Belgrade Prediction: Red Star can sign off with a win

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out Mark's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights writers on our Football home page...