Real Madrid continues its fight for the championship, although they’ve temporarily dropped to third place in the standings. The team has 54 points, with 55 goals scored and 25 conceded. They trail Atlético by two points and Barcelona by three.
In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, Real defeated Atlético 2-1, but the return leg is looming, and Carlo Ancelotti might rotate the squad. However, after the loss to Betis in the last round, dropping points in La Liga is highly undesirable to keep pace in the title race.
Real is solid at home, remaining unbeaten in the league for six consecutive matches. Yet, Rayo Vallecano is capable of putting up a fight, so the hosts shouldn’t expect an easy ride.
Rayo Vallecano holds the 7th position in the standings with 36 points and is still in the hunt for a European competition spot, just two points behind Betis. However, they haven’t won in La Liga for three consecutive rounds – narrow losses to Barcelona 0-1 and Villarreal 0-1, and a draw with Sevilla 1-1.
An additional challenge for Rayo is the squad’s injuries. They’ve lost two key forwards, Sergio Camello and Isi Palazón, which could further weaken an attack that isn’t their strongest suit.
Nevertheless, Rayo has consistently challenged Real in head-to-head encounters. In the first half of the current season, the teams played to an exciting 3-3 draw, and the last three matches between them also ended in draws.
In such a scenario, a narrow victory for the hosts might suffice. Considering the cautious play of the visitors and Real's pragmatic approach, my bet is on a total match score of under 3.5 goals with odds of 1.59.
Place a bet on the line of 1xBet with odds of 1.59
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