Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano Betting Tips

Rafa Benitez’s reign took another turn for the worse last weekend when Real were beaten 1-0 away at Villarreal. A particularly inept 1st half display even with Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo all starting highlighted the problems that this side is facing right now and anything but victory here will mean a very unhappy Christmas break for all connected with the club.

Real Madrid now trail Barcelona and Atletico by 5 points but with the Catalans away at the FIFA World Club Cup this weekend, they can at least close the gap on their eternal rivals. They had won 5 matches in a row prior to their loss at Villarreal, although the quality of the opposition hadn’t been particularly high and in truth it isn’t here with Rayo currently in the relegation zone so a home win shouldn’t be too hard to come by.

Rayo Vallecano have lost their last 3 matches and have the joint worst defensive record in the league, an unwanted feat that they also finished off with last season. However they are an attacking side and only know one way to play so they might give Real’s defenders more to think about than the average visiting team at the Bernabeu.

The club from the Vallecas district of the Spanish capital have scored in all of their last 3 defeats, the most recent of which was a decisive away goal in a 3-1 defeat at Getafe in the Copa del Rey in midweek, which saw them through to the next round having won the 1st leg 2-0.

They have only failed to score in 3 of their last 15 matches and scored in all their away games against the ‘big three’ last season and netted twice in a defeat at the Camp Nou in October. Therefore there is plenty of reason to think Real Madrid will win this game but not to nil and you can back that to be the case at 11/10.

Whatever happens here there will be an air of discontent at the Bernabeu and with Real Madrid not at their best, a 3-1 win looks good value at 10/1 rather than a more convincing margin of victory.