Real Madrid vs Malaga Betting Tips

Malaga seem to have perfected the art of parking the bus at the Bernabeu and the Camp Nou better than most sides in this league. Almost every side who visits either ground does so on something of a damage limitation mission but you sense Malaga believe they can genuinely get something out of the games.

Last season they won 1-0 at Barcelona and they were only narrowly beaten at the Camp Nou by the same scoreline in the early days of this campaign. Their record against Real Madrid isn’t terrible either in terms of avoiding heavy defeats and they’ve not conceded more than 3 goals away to either club in the past two seasons.

However their overall start to this season has been very poor indeed and they are the only side yet to score after 5 rounds of La Liga matches. A run of three 1-0 defeats and two 0-0 draws tells you all you need to know about their style of play and respective strengths and weaknesses.

Real Madrid have been very solid defensively under Rafa Benitez and their results have been good. The goal they conceded in the 2-1 win away to Athletic Bilbao in midweek was the first they’ve let in since the former Valencia boss took over from Carlo Ancelotti and having safely negotiated what is always a tough fixture, they’ve gone top of the league after Barcelona’s crushing defeat in Vigo.

With a Champions League trip to Malmo next week, they may be tempted to rest one or two players here especially given they are already missing Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos and can’t afford more key absentees for the tougher games. However Benitez isn’t the type to mess around with the defence too much and against a Malaga side that has been awful going forward, you have to fancy them strongly to win to nil at 5/6.

Consistency seems to be one of the things the new coach is striving for this season and he won’t be too concerned about the margin of victory. If they can work up a 2 goal lead which shouldn’t be at all beyond them, then that will basically be game over you’d have thought given Malaga’s lack of potency. That will enable him to withdraw the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo for bigger challenges ahead which include a Madrid derby with Atletico next weekend.

Therefore there is surely value in backing the hosts to win 2-0 at 6/1.