Real Madrid vs Mallorca Prediction: Away side can score in the second half at good odds

It will be all change for Real Madrid next season but after a 4-3 reversal to rivals Barcelona on Sunday, their season is petering out but before all is said and done, they still have games to play.

Our La Liga Betting Expert is here with his Real Madrid vs Real Mallorca Predictions as he gives us his in-depth preview on the match, which is set for kick-off at 20:30 on Wednesday evening with Premier Sports 2 having the broadcast in the UK...

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

Real Madrid return to the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night, and anything short of three points for Los Blancos against Mallorca will see Barcelona confirmed as the new champions of Spain. 

It's only really a matter of time now for the Catalans who came from 2-0 down to win El Clásico 4-3 on Sunday, with Hansi Flick's side rattling in four goals during a relentless 26-minute spell in the first half. 

It was more than a bit reminiscent of two of the previous three meetings this season, with Barcelona also scoring four goals in the space of 30 minutes at the Bernabéu in October, and five goals between the 22nd and 48th minutes in the Supercopa final in January. 

Real Madrid have just not had any answers when their rivals have hit top gear this season, and they are now set to end the campaign without any domestic silverware, in a disappointing end to Carlo Ancelotti's successful second spell at the club. 

The Italian will leave following the final game of the season against Real Sociedad, with the club working on getting Xabi Alonso installed in time for the Club World Cup which kicks off in June. 

Alonso will initially inherit a number of the problems that the current Real Madrid boss is having to deal with, and given the scale of the injury crisis in the white half of the Spanish capital, there's no guarantee that they will even get the result here that would delay Barça's title party by at least 24 hours. 

They were effectively missing all of their first-choice back four on Sunday, and at times that was very telling, with individual errors again contributing to another shaky defensive display from Los Blancos. 

Kylian Mbappé did his best to drag his side back into title contention, becoming the first Real Madrid player this century to score a hat-trick in a league Clásico. He now leads the Pichichi race by two goals from Robert Lewandowski, and has silenced many of his early-season critics as he closes in on a 30-goal debut campaign in La Liga. 

While deep down Real Madrid will now know that they aren't fighting for anything, that's not the case for Mallorca who are firmly in the race for European qualification. They've not played on the continental stage since the 2003/04 UEFA Cup when they were knocked out by Newcastle, so even securing Conference League qualification would be a huge achievement for Jagoba Arrasate and his players. 

That's by no means beyond their grasp given the top eight in La Liga will all play in Europe next season, however their recent form has been patchy, with three wins and four defeats from their last eight matches. 

They were impressive 2-0 winners at Real Sociedad a month ago, but went three matches without scoring after that. That run included a trip to Barcelona where they had to face 40 shots, with the leaders registering more attempts than any other team had managed in the Spanish top flight for 14 years. 

Mallorca's promising young keeper Leo Román rotated in for that midweek match and made 11 saves to somehow restrict Barça to a 1-0 margin of victory. He's set for a similar assignment on Wednesday night in Madrid, but his side look more likely to compete on this occasion, and they head into the game after a 2-1 victory over bottom club Real Valladolid on Saturday. 

Team News: 

Real Madrid players are dropping like flies at the moment, and they are set to be without no fewer than 10 senior squad members for this game. Aurélien Tchouaméni is suspended, while Dani Carvajal, Éder Militão, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo, Lucas Vázquez and Ferland Mendy are all out injured. Antonio Rüdiger is also both injured and suspended as a result of his Copa del Rey final temper tantrum. 

That leaves Ancelotti with more selection headaches than he could probably do with, in his final fortnight in the job. The most serious issues are in defence, with 20-year-old Jacobo Ramón expected to make his first start in La Liga. Fellow B-teamers Lorenzo Aguado, Víctor Muñoz and Youssef Enríquez could also feature at some point, while Endrick may make just his second league start up front. 

As for Mallorca, they are also missing four players, with Manu Morlanes, Abdon Prats, Chiquinho and Robert Navarro all sidelined due to injuries. 

Arrasate does tend to rotate heavily in midweek games, and that's likely to be the case again here, with the Mallorca boss having already confirmed that Román, rather than Dominik Greif, will start in goal. They are also expected to start with an extra centre-back in this game, with José Manuel Copete set to come in, while Cyle Larin could potentially rotate in for Vedat Muriqi up front. 

Real Madrid vs Real Mallorca Odds

Punters will need to weigh up just how much impact those extensive selection issues will have on Real Madrid. They are still priced at 4/11 to win the game, while you can back the Draw at 4/1. Mallorca are available at 7/1 to leave the Bernabéu with three points. 

If you're still expecting the hosts to be the dominant force, you can back Real Madrid and Over 2.5 goals at 9/10. Los Blancos are priced at 2/1 to win both halves, while you can also back Real Madrid -1.00 Handicap at 1/1. 

Alternatively, Mallorca or Draw is on offer at 2/1 in the Double Chance market. The visitors are also priced at 13/5 to win either half, and 10/3 to score over 1.5 goals in the game. 

Inevitably, Mbappé is the red-hot favourite in the goalscorer markets. You can back La Liga's top scorer to net first at 11/4, while Endrick is priced at 9/2 in the same market, with the Brazilian in with a strong chance of starting the game. You can also back Jude Bellingham to score anytime at 9/5. 

From a Mallorca perspective, you can back Muriqi to score anytime at 11/5, while Larin is priced at 5/2 to get on the scoresheet, although it may well be that only one of those players starts. 

Bet 1 - Kylian Mbappé to score anytime @ 4/5 

With Lewandowski again only warming the bench at Barcelona at the weekend, Mbappé is now the firm favourite to finish as La Liga's top scorer, and he's looking sharp and hungry for more goals. 

The Frenchman has netted six times in his last three matches, and he's sure to be the focal point of Real Madrid's attacking play here, even if he does get moved to the left flank as a result of injuries for Vinícius and Rodrygo. 

He's certainly no stranger to that role, having spent much of his career as a left-sided attacking player cutting inside onto his stronger right foot, and scoring loads of goals. On current form, I like the look of odds of 4/5 for Mbappé to score anytime. 

Bet 2 - Mallorca over 0.5 goals (2nd Half) @ 7/5 

Mallorca are by no means a free-scoring team, but they do have players capable of posing problems for what will be a very inexperienced home central defence. 

We may not see them try anything too adventurous initially, with Arrasate likely to leave some of his regulars on the bench, but they could certainly come into the game after the break given they'll have far more options to mix things up, unlike Real Madrid, whose bench is expected to be filled mostly with B-team players. 

We've seen Los Blancos come under real pressure in the latter stages of some of their recent home games too, with Celta scoring twice here in the final 25 minutes the weekend before last. 

Given that, I'm backing Mallorca to score over 0.5 goals in the second half at 7/5.