Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo preview, prediction, team news, and head-to-head

Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid returned to winning ways with a dominant win over Athletic Bilbao, and now sit just a single point adrift of their rivals and defending champions, Barcelona.

Celta Vigo are not in the best of form, and this should offer Los Blancos an opportunity to stay on the tails of Barcelona.

After a series of frustrating league draws against Rayo Vallecano, Elche, and Girona, Madrid delivered a commanding performance on Wednesday at San Mamés.

In what was expected to be a tough fixture against Athletic Club, they secured a comfortable 3-0 victory. Kylian Mbappe was instrumental, opening the scoring in the seventh minute, assisting Eduardo Camavinga for the second, and adding another goal in the second half to seal the win.

Celta Vigo, on the other hand, are coming off a disappointing 1-0 league loss to Espanyol, conceding from a late corner. This result marked their third consecutive defeat against the Catalan club.

While they managed a win on Thursday in the Copa del Rey, it was far from convincing, requiring a penalty shootout to overcome fourth-tier side Sant Andreu in the second round.

Los Blancos have won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two sides, with Celta's last win in this fixture dating back to 2017.

Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss two months of action for the hosts, while Camavinga’s ankle injury will be monitored closely.

Joseph Aidoo made an early exit from Celta’s midweek cup game and may miss out here.

Real Madrid: Courtois; Asencio, Militao, Rudiger, Carreras; Guler, Valverde, Tchouameni; Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe

Celta Vigo: Radu; Alonso, Starfelt, J Rodriguez; Rueda, D Rodriguez, Moriba, Carreira; Zaragoza, Iglesias, Aspas

Real Madrid appear to have rediscovered their rhythm, winning two of their last three matches following a three-game winless streak.

Their formidable home record, which includes 12 consecutive victories at the Bernabéu, makes them strong favorites to extend that run this weekend.

• Kylian Mbappe anytime scorer

• Over 2.5 goals

• Real Madrid win