Rayo Vallecano vs Real Madrid preview, prediction, team news, and head-to-head

Rayo Vallecano have had a difficult campaign so far, and facing the league leaders is never an exciting prospect; however, Real Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss in mid-week, showing they are not unbeatable.

Vallecano have experienced a mixed start to the campaign. A positive 3-1 win away to Girona on the opening weekend was followed by a difficult six-game winless run, which included losses to Athletic Club, Osasuna, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla.

They temporarily recovered, securing successive wins against Real Sociedad and Levante, along with a home victory over Alaves.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have bounced back emphatically from their only defeat of the league season, a 5-2 loss to rivals Atletico Madrid.

Los Blancos have since proven themselves to be the most formidable team in Spain, winning consecutively against Villarreal, Getafe, Barcelona, and Valencia. Despite the midweek defeat to Liverpool, Xabi Alonso's men are heavy favourites.

Real Madrid defeated Rayo 2-1 last season to end a run of three straight draws between both sides. In recent times, this has been something of a tricky fixture for Los Blancos, who struggled to a 3-3 draw at this venue last season.

Overall, Real have won 4 of the last 9 meetings, with Rayo winning twice, including the famous 3-2 victory back in the 2022 season.

Rayo Vallecano will once again be without the services of Luiz Felipe (hamstring) and Abdul Mumin (knee) due to injury. Additionally, Diego Mendez is listed as a fitness doubt.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are also severely hampered. Midfield anchor Aurelien Tchouameni (hamstring) is out and expected to remain sidelined until later this month. The defense is particularly thin, with Dani Carvajal (knee) and Antonio Rudiger (muscle) definitely unavailable.

Rayo: Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mendy, Chavarria; Ciss, Valentin, Diaz; De Frutos, Alemao, A Garcia

Real Madrid: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Militao, Huijsen, Carreras; Valverde, Guler, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius

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This fixture has certainly become a banana skin for Real Madrid, at least in recent years, and Alonso's men dropping points here will not be a huge surprise.

However, we expect them to be seething after the midweek defeat to Liverpool, and we can see them just shading this one.