Las Palmas vs Real Madrid Prediction: Back Brahim Díaz to score anytime

Real Madrid scored twice late-on against Valladolid at the weekend to make their 3-0 win look far more comfortable than it was looking with five minutes left on the clock.

They face a trip to the Canary Islands on Thursday night (Premier Sports 1, 20:30) and our Spanish football expert thinks this'll be the fifth-straight victory for Real. Mark Sochon takes us through his Las Palmas vs Real Madrid Predictions...

Real Madrid head to the Canary Islands on Thursday for a La Liga showdown against Las Palmas at the Estadio Gran Canaria.

It’s the defending champions against the pre-season relegation favourites. Los Blancos will be strongly fancied to win the game, but they did need to come from behind for a 2-1 victory in the most recent meeting in January, with Aurélien Tchouaméni striking an 84th minute winner.

Las Palmas were still riding the wave of an over-achieving, newly promoted side back then, but little has gone right for them since. They’ve gone 16 matches without a league win since defeating Valencia back in February and only finished a couple of places above the relegation zone last term.

Sevilla-bound García Pimienta departed in the summer, with 45-year-old Luis Carrión the replacement in the Las Palmas dugout. The two met on the opening matchday of the 2024/25 season, with their new sides playing out a surprisingly entertaining 2-2 draw in Gran Canaria.

Las Palmas have since suffered a 2-1 defeat away to newly promoted Leganés. There were a few positives for Carrión to take from both performances, but the reality is that Las Palmas are most likely heading for a really tough season and they won’t be expecting much from this game.

They may at least be spared the prospect of facing Real Madrid’s strongest eleven, with Carlo Ancelotti tending to rotate his players in midweek league games. However, we saw plenty of evidence last season of how good the “B team” can be, with the likes of Arda Güler and Brahim Díaz very capable deputies.

Brahim had a big role to play at the weekend, coming off the bench to score one and set up another, as Real Madrid survived some nervy moments to ultimately see off Real Valladolid 3-0 at a sold out Santiago Bernabéu.

It was billed as the Kylian Mbappé show with the Frenchman’s home debut attracting huge interest in the Spanish capital. In the end, it was Real Madrid’s other major summer signing who stole the show and gave Ancelotti some food for thought heading into this midweek fixture.

Endrick replaced Mbappé with 86 minutes on the clock, but Los Blancos only a goal up. While the visitors were chasing the game by that point, it did feel as though the 18-year-old Brazilian slotted in more naturally than the former PSG striker has done so far, and it was Endrick rather than Mbappé who ended up with a goal on his home debut thanks to an excellent late strike.

The win over newly promoted opposition moved Real Madrid onto four points from two games, following a draw at Mallorca in their season opener. They are still clearly in the process of building up match sharpness again, but Ancelotti will want to avoid any more dropped points before the international break, given Barcelona’s 100% start under their new boss Hansi Flick.

Team News:

There’ll be no Jude Bellingham for Real Madrid on Thursday night, with the Englishman sidelined through injury. Eduardo Camavinga and David Alaba are the other, slightly longer term injury absentees.

Ancelotti is expected to rotate, with Lucas Vázquez likely to come in at right-back while Ferland Mendy returns from suspension at left-back. Luka Modrić and Brahim Díaz should also come into the starting lineup.

Up front, the Italian must decide whether to opt for continuity and give Mbappé another start as his settling-in process continues. Alternatively, he could hand Endrick his full debut.

As for Las Palmas, they’ve been pretty busy in the transfer market this summer, with Scottish duo Oli McBurnie and Scott McKenna among their new arrivals. Both could feature here, although Adnan Januzaj, another new signing, is sidelined through injury.

Their new goalkeeper is experienced Dutchman Jasper Cillessen. He will start again, despite their impressive number one from last season Álvaro Valles remaining at the club. Some form of departure is imminently expected for Valles. That may free up funds for fresh additions, although they’re unlikely to be able to get anyone else through the door in time for this match.

Las Palmas vs Real Madrid Odds

Real Madrid start as the 4/11 favourites, with the draw priced at 4/1, while you can back a shock Las Palmas victory at 7/1.

The last four meetings have all ended in victories for the side from the capital. For bigger returns, you can back Real Madrid -1.00 handicap at Evens while Los Blancos are priced at 13/10 to win the game to nil.

Both teams to score is priced at 4/5 for this game between sides expected to finish at opposite ends of the table. You can also back there to be over 2.5 goals at 8/15, while over 3.5 goals is on offer at 11/8.

In the goalscorer markets, you can get odds of 4/5 for Mbappé to score anytime. The risk of him being rotated out is slightly higher than with Vinícius Júnior though and the Brazilian is available at 4/1 to score first and 6/5 to score anytime.

Las Palmas have benefited from goals from Sandro Ramírez in their opening two matches. He’s 4/1 to score anytime here, although punters should probably consider that the former Everton striker only managed one goal in 27 La Liga appearances last term. You can also back McBurnie to break his Las Palmas duck and score anytime at 7/2.

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

Bet 1 - Over 2.5 goals & Real Madrid to win the Second Half @ 11/10

Las Palmas were a slow and predictable side for much of last season, but they’ve shown a bit more attacking intent in their opening two games under Carrión which have both produced over 2.5 goals. That suggests they may do a bit more than simply park the bus in this game and there have been one or two cracks in the Real Madrid defence in the opening two matches.

The gulf in quality is enormous though and the visitors could have some frightening options to bring off the bench if Ancelotti, as is expected, chooses to rotate. They have so much pace in attack now, that they are likely to score a lot of late goals against tiring defences this season and I’m using the #PickYourPunt builder to back Over 2.5 goals and Real Madrid to win the Second Half at 11/10 here.

Bet 2 - Brahim Díaz to score anytime @ 15/8

One of the likely beneficiaries from Ancelotti’s rotation should be Brahim Díaz. He looked very sharp when he came on against Real Valladolid at the weekend, opening his account for the season with a late goal.

Despite a peripheral role, Brahim scored 12 times in all competitions from 22 starts for Real Madrid last season. His first team opportunities aren’t likely to be any more frequent this term with so much quality in this squad, so he’ll be really hungry to take this chance against relatively weak opposition and I’m backing Brahim Díaz to score anytime at 15/8.

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. 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...