Real Madrid vs Girona Prediction: Mbappe can dazzle again

Real Madrid are back at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday (15:15, Premier Sports 1), four days after Kylian Mbappé’s hat-trick demolished Manchester City in the Champions League. They face opposition from the City Football Group again, with Girona their latest visitors in La Liga. 

The Catalans also visited the Bernabéu last February, although the circumstances around this game are very different to last season’s clash when the two clubs were unexpectedly neck-and-neck at the top of the table. Read on for my Real Madrid vs Girona predictions, alongside the latest match odds and team news.

Los Blancos ran out convincing 4-0 winners that day in a huge blow to Girona's surprise title challenge. Míchel's side would fade out of title contention, but it was still a historic season for the club with a 3rd place finish sealing Champions League qualification. 

A year on, Girona are in the bottom half of La Liga and a shadow of the side that rattled in 85 league goals last season. Some sort of decline was inevitable given the summer departures of the likes of Savinho, Artem Dovbyk and Aleix García, but there'll be some disappointment at just how far back they have slipped. 

They've lost 53% of their matches this season in all competitions, including six of their last seven. The hope was that their Champions League exit in January would help spark an improvement in La Liga with no remaining cup distractions, but that hasn't been the case as yet. 

Girona head into this game after a 3-0 defeat in Bilbao when they were completely outplayed, followed by a 2-1 home loss against Getafe, with Yangel Herrera scoring but then seeing red in a fresh blow to their prospects of European qualification. 

A lack of reliable goal threats is perhaps the biggest issue facing Míchel. No Girona player has yet reached five goals in La Liga 2024/25, with veteran forward Cristhian Stuani their joint top scorer on four, despite 18 of his 19 appearances coming off the bench. 

That's not a problem for Carlo Ancelotti, with the Italian's biggest challenge this season being the need to figure out how to fit all of his attacking stars into the same team. 

He has tried many different approaches, but it feels as though the Real Madrid boss may now have stumbled upon the solution. It has loosely been a 4-4-2 in the last few games, with Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo operating in the wide roles, and Vinícius Júnior alongside Mbappé up front, with the Brazilian having considerable license to drift to the left at times. 

While City were very poor across the two legs, Los Blancos will still feel as though they have taken some significant steps forward over the past fortnight. Not only are they looking more balanced in attack, but Raúl Asencio and Fede Valverde look to have solved their main areas of weakness at the back. 

While Valverde's presence in midfield will be missed, it could be that he continues to be used at right-back for much of the remainder of this season, with the Uruguayan looking far more convincing than Lucas Vázquez in the role. 

Despite the fresh wave of positivity that has followed Real Madrid's Champions League triumph, they have actually gone three games without victory in La Liga. The club has been left fuming at some recent decisions, with Jude Bellingham's red card not the only controversial moment at El Sadar last weekend. 

As a result of their defeat at Espanyol, and draws against Atlético Madrid and Osasuna, the defending champions are no longer top of the table, with a three-horse title race now brewing up very nicely from a neutral perspective at least. 

Real Madrid vs Girona Odds

Real Madrid come into this as the 2/7 favourites to end their three-game winless run in the league. You can back Girona to win at 17/2, while the Draw is priced at 5/1. 

If you fancy Los Blancos to ease to victory here, you can back Real Madrid -1.00 Handicap at 8/11. They are also available at 8/5 to win both halves, while you can back Real Madrid and Both teams to score at 11/8. 

They've not been having much luck with referees of late though and if you see that trend continuing, you can back Girona to score a penalty at 8/1, while a Home team red card is available at 9/1. 

The visitors are available at 4/7 to score over 0.5 goals in this game, while you can back Girona over 1.5 goals at 11/4. Both teams to score is priced at 4/6. 

Unsurprisingly, with two hat-tricks already in 2025, Mbappé leads the way in the goalscorer markets. The Frenchman is priced at 11/4 to score first and 3/5 to score anytime. He's also available at 12/1 to score three or more. 

Vinícius is priced at 19/20 to get on the scoresheet, while you can back Rodrygo to score anytime at 7/5. From a visiting perspective, Abel Ruiz is the man most likely to lead the line and he's on offer at 11/4 to score anytime.

Football Odds

Team News

After the rejection of the club's appeal this week, Bellingham begins a two-game ban here for swearing at the referee in the draw at Osasuna. That could potentially see Rodrygo shift to the left flank, with Brahim Díaz and the fit-again Lucas Vazquez options to come in on the right. 

Ancelotti may also consider some light rotation ahead of a Copa del Rey semi-final trip to Real Sociedad on Wednesday. Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Fran García may come into the side. There are no new injury concerns, but Eder Militão and Dani Carvajal both remain out following ACL tears last year. 

As for Girona, they'll be forced into a change in midfield following Herrera's red card last time out. January signing Arthur Melo could come into the side as a result, while Míchel may make other changes following a disappointing team performance. He's not short on options, with Arnaut Danjuma the only injury concern heading into this match. 

Bet Builder - Real Madrid to win, Real Madrid most corners & Kylian Mbappé to score anytime @ 5/4

There's not much to like about Girona right now. At no point this season has Míchel really settled on a preferred starting lineup and none of their many summer signings have stepped up and had anything like the kind of impact that Dovbyk or Savinho had last term. 

They were found wanting at Champions League level, and that has also been the case in league games against the very top sides. Their three La Liga matches against top-three opponents to date have produced two 3-0 defeats and one 4-1 loss. 

It's hard to see this going any better, and on current form, it's also hard to see Mbappé not scoring with the striker having bagged 13 goals in his last 10 appearances. The hosts should dominate this one, and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Real Madrid to win, Real Madrid most corners & Kylian Mbappé to score anytime at 5/4. 

Real Madrid -2 Handicap @ 9/5

Given Girona's record of losing by three goals in all of their matches against Barcelona and the big two Madrid clubs this term, not to mention their very poor current form, there's every chance that the home team can run up a convincing victory here. 

While Bellingham's presence will be missed, Real Madrid will be hungry to set the record straight in La Liga and unleash their anger at perceived recent injustices on this Girona side. 

With Ancelotti's system serving up lots of opportunities for a red hot Mbappé, and with Vinícius and Rodrygo also well capable of getting in amongst the goals, I'm backing Real Madrid -2.00 Handicap at 9/5.

Offers

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.