Celta Vigo vs Real Madrid Prediction: Back Mbappe to get on the scoresheet

Real Madrid return to action this Saturday after the international break with a trip to Celta Vigo. The game will be shown live on La Liga TV with kick-off time set for 20:00.

Our Spanish Football expert Mark Sochon thinks an away win looks likely but isn't expecting plenty of goals. Check out his thoughts and Celta Vigo vs Real Madrid Predictions here in his match preview for Betfred Insights...

Real Madrid travel to Galicia this Saturday to take on a Celta Vigo side that has been a good watch this season in La Liga, with goals tending to fly in whenever they play.  

Since the promotion of B team boss Claudio Giráldez to the top job in March, Celta have looked a much more convincing side than was the case during Rafael Benítez’s ill-fated spell in charge.  

Celta were 17th when Giráldez took over, but comfortably beat the drop last season in the end and the 36-year-old boasts an impressive win ratio of just shy of 50% heading into this weekend. It’s perhaps no surprise then, that he was rewarded with a new contract this week, extending his stay at Balaídos until 2027.  

Giráldez has really tapped into the talent he used to work with during his time as B team boss, by promoting a host of young players into prominent roles in the senior squad. Carlos Domínguez, Hugo Sotelo, Hugo Álvarez, Pablo Durán, Alfon González, Sergio Carreira, Damián Rodríguez and Javi Rodríguez have all come through the ranks in Vigo and have all made multiple starts in La Liga this term. 

Therefore it has been a pretty radical approach from the Celta boss and one that the supporters are certainly on board with. 

Celta are still something of a work in progress though. They’ve lost as many games as they’ve won this season and punters may want to take note that three of their four league victories this term have come against the bottom three teams in the division heading into matchday 10. 

That includes a 1-0 win at bottom club Las Palmas last time out, when they somehow hung on, despite being reduced to nine men with more than 30 minutes to go, following red cards for Iago Aspas and Ilaix Moriba. 

They’ll certainly need to keep their full quota of players on the pitch this weekend, up against a Real Madrid side that has only lost one league game since the start of last season.  

The fixture doesn’t bring up happy recent memories for followers of Os Celestes, with Real winning all of the last eight meetings. Los Blancos have also won on their last six league visits to Balaídos. 

They should head there on Saturday evening in reasonably good spirits with five wins from their last six league games, helping to settle some nerves after some unconvincing early season performances. 

While it still feels like there is more to come from this Real Madrid side, they were relatively comfortable 2-0 winners last time out with long-range strikes from Fede Valverde and Vinícius Júnior seeing off Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu. The victory was soured considerably by a season-ending ACL injury suffered by Dani Carvajal though. 

There was better news for Carlo Ancelotti during the international break, with a number of key players not involved for their countries which allowed the likes of Vinícius, Kylian Mbappé and Éder Militão the chance to rest up and fully recover from minor injuries that should have little impact on their participation in this game. 

While Real Madrid won’t be taking this improving Celta Vigo side lightly, they will have half an eye on what’s to come over the next week with a repeat of last season’s Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund, followed by El Clásico next weekend in La Liga. 

Team News: 

With two huge fixtures on the horizon, Ancelotti may consider resting the likes of Rodrygo and Fede Valverde who both started World Cup qualifiers in midweek in South America. 

Thibaut Courtois is fit to return in goal, but David Alaba and Brahim Díaz are both sidelined still. Meanwhile, Lucas Vázquez looks set to be Real Madrid’s first choice right-back until January at the very least, with Carvajal potentially out for around a year. 

Celta’s hopes of ending an eight-game losing streak against the Spanish and European champions, are not helped by a suspension for talisman Iago Aspas who has either scored or created six of their 16 goals this term. 

Ilaix is also suspended after his red card in Gran Canaria. The hosts also have two injury concerns with centre-back Jailson and midfielder Luca de la Torre ruled out. 

Celta Vigo vs Real Madrid Odds

Real Madrid head to Vigo as the 3/5 favourites to win this match, which works out as our traders believe there is a 63% chance they win the game. You can back Celta to win at 4/1 (20%) while the Draw is priced at 100/30 (23%).

Both teams to score is priced at 8/13, a winning bet in seven of Celta’s nine matches so far this season, while you can back Over 2.5 goals at 4/7 and Over 3.5 goals at 6/4. 

If you fancy Los Blancos to come back from the international break on top of their game, Real Madrid -1.00 Handicap is priced at 8/5, while you can back the visitors to win both halves at 3/1. 

Draw/Real Madrid looks pretty good at 18/5 given Ancelotti’s side have scored 79% of their league goals this season in the Second Half. You can also use the Bet Builder to back Real Madrid Over 1.5 Second Half goals at 7/4. 

After a fine strike last time out, Ballon d'Or favourite Vinícius Júnior is available at 5/1 to score first and 6/4 to score anytime. You can also back Jude Bellingham at 3/1 to score his first Real Madrid goal of the season in this game. 

From a Celta perspective, Borja Iglesias looks their most likely goal threat. He has netted four times so far this season in La Liga and is on offer at 7/1 to score first and 11/5 to score anytime. 

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Bet 1 - Real Madrid win & Under 3.5 goals @ 7/5 

While he recently turned 37, Aspas is still the player who makes everything tick in an attacking sense for Celta, so his absence on Saturday is a big blow to the home team’s chances of causing problems for a Real Madrid defence that has only conceded six goals in nine outings in La Liga this term. 

It’s not really in Giráldez’s nature to set his team up very defensively, so there may be a bit more space for Vinícius and Mbappé to operate in than has been the case in recent matches and that may play into the hands of the visitors to some extent. 

With such a strong recent record against this opposition, I expect Los Blancos to take all the points here and I’m backing Real Madrid and Under 3.5 goals at 7/5, a winning bet on four occasions already this season in La Liga for the defending champions.