Granada vs Real Madrid Prediction: Back Joselu to score again

Real Madrid have already been crowned champions of Spain and what a season it has been for Carlo Ancelotti and his side. They still have some La Liga matches to go though before they travel to Wembley for the Champions League Final, starting with the 17:30 kick-off on Premier Sports Player this Saturday teatime.

Our Spanish Football expert Mark Sochon previews this one and he likes the Wednesday night hero to find the back of the net again. Check out his thoughts in full in his Granada vs Real Madrid predictions column here at Betfred Insights...

Real Madrid travel to Los Cármenes on Saturday, one week after winning La Liga and three days on from another miraculous late comeback victory in the Champions League at the Bernabéu.

Los Blancos are now red-hot favourites to be crowned Spanish and European champions in the same season for only the fifth time. With only one team defeating them in the 2023/24 campaign, it is shaping up to be one of the club’s best ever seasons which is extraordinary given some of the pre-season talk pointed towards a slightly transitional year post Karim Benzema and ahead of the expected signing of Kylian Mbappé this summer.

The loan signing of Joselu from recently relegated Espanyol was only supposed to be a stop-gap, squad filling solution after last summer’s move for the Frenchman fell through, yet the journeyman striker has proved more useful than anyone could have imagined.

The former Stoke City man moved onto 17 goals for the season with close range finishes in the 88th and 91st minutes against Bayern on Wednesday as Real Madrid did what Real Madrid so often do in the Champions League.

In the blink of an eye, they turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 aggregate advantage and while there was still time for the Germans to have a goal controversially ruled out by a premature flag, Los Blancos have a trip to Wembley to look forward to on the first day of June.

That game is still three weeks away though and with the league title sewn up, Carlo Ancelotti’s attention will now turn to how best to keep his players fresh for the showdown with Borussia Dortmund, whilst ensuring they don’t lose any of the momentum that has built up over the course of the season.

He’s managed that pretty well in recent weeks, with effectively second string elevens sealing victories over Real Sociedad and Cádiz. Granada are up next and they’ll back themselves to record what would be a 16th straight victory over the Andalusian side in all competitions.

Granada do not tend to enjoy life against Real Madrid and they have not enjoyed this season very much either. With 11 points separating them from safety and only four to play, they could be relegated this weekend even if they win this game and it’s possible that their relegation will have already been confirmed by kick-off with 17th placed Mallorca hosting Las Palmas earlier in the day.

A 3-0 defeat at Sevilla on Monday night felt like the final nail in their coffin. Prior to that though, Granada had actually been on their best run of the season with the recently appointed José Ramón Sandoval finding a bit of life in a team that had looked badly out of their depth for most of the campaign.

The Nazaríes have won their last two home games, seeing off Alavés 2-0 and Osasuna 3-0 to double their win tally for the season. Forwards Lucas Boyé and Myrto Uzuni were both on target in each of those games, while Manchester United loanee Facundo Pellistri has added a bit of imagination on the right flank.

That should be enough to ensure Real Madrid’s back four doesn’t have a totally trouble-free afternoon but it could be a long game for La Liga’s second-worst defence with the visitors likely to bring their stars on in the Second Half should they need to chase a goal.

Team News:

Carlo Ancelotti confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday that he will rotate again this weekend. That’s not a big surprise and we can expect a similar eleven to the one that defeated Cádiz last time out in La Liga.

Thibaut Courtois is expected to start in goal and should he prove his fitness over the final four games, the Belgian is likely to get the nod ahead of Andriy Lunin at Wembley. The only injury concerns right now for Ancelotti are Aurélien Tchouaméni and David Alaba who will both miss this game.

Granada will have to cope without their suspended centre back Miguel Ángel Rubio. Antonio Puertas is their only other likely absentee, with the winger sidelined through injury.

They usually operate with a 4-4-2 system and we may see just the one change from the side that cruised to a 3-0 win over Osasuna in their most recent home fixture with Kamil Piatkowski the most likely candidate to replace Rubio in central defence.

Granada vs Real Madrid Odds

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

Real Madrid come into the game as the 1/2 favourites, with the Draw priced at 7/2. Granada are on offer at 5/1 to upset the newly crowned Spanish champions.

If you fancy Sandoval’s side to build on two much improved home performances and compete well against an under-strength Real Madrid eleven, you can back Granada or Draw Double Chance at 6/4 while Over 1.5 Home Goals is on offer at 11/4. Granada are also priced at 2/1 to win either half.

If you see it going the other way, Real Madrid -1.00 Handicap may appeal at 11/8. You can back Real Madrid and Both Teams to Score at 2/1 while Los Blancos are priced at 23/20 to score in both halves.

Joselu, Brahim Diaz and Arda Güler have formed the Real Madrid attack in their last two league games and a repeat is very possible here. You can back Joselu to score first at 4/1, Güler to score first at 6/1 and Brahim to score first at 13/2.

Ancelotti may turn to the bench in the Second Half though and you can back Vinicius Junior to score last at 18/5 while Jude Bellingham is 4/1 to score last. Myrto Uzuni is favourite amongst the Granada players to get on the scoresheet with the Albanian available at 23/10 to score anytime.

Bet 1 - Draw/Real Madrid HT/FT @ 100/30

While Real Madrid have won their last two matches with rotated elevens, they weren’t totally convincing in the 1-0 win at Real Sociedad where they only registered five shots in the whole game while it took them 51 minutes to break the deadlock at home to Cádiz.

Granada are a limited side but they’ve shown enough since the change in coach to suggest they’re not going to go down without a bit of a fight here. There’s every chance they’ll be able to stay in the game until the break but Ancelotti will have an embarrassment of riches to call upon should he need reinforcements and I like the look of Draw/Real Madrid in the Half-Time/Full-Time market at 100/30.

Bet 2 - Joselu to score anytime @ 6/5

Joselu was only introduced in the 81st minute on Wednesday night but the lifelong Real Madrid fan still had time to score twice and will be riding a wave of confidence heading into this one. He averages a goal every 126 minutes across La Liga and Champions League football this season which is a great return and he looks one of the most likely starters for Los Blancos in this game.

With Granada missing one of their first choice central defenders, the 34-year-old has every chance of taking advantage of any uncertainty in the home defence and I’m backing Joselu to build on his midweek rescue act and score anytime at 6/5 in this game.

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...