Real Madrid vs Barcelona prediction: All-action El Clasico expected

The first El Clasico of the season takes place at the Bernabeu on Saturday as second-placed Real Madrid host league leaders Barcelona, knowing a win would take them top of LaLiga (8pm, Premier Sports 1 & LaLiga TV).

Los Blancos have made an unbeaten start to the season, winning seven of their first 10 games, yet find themselves three points behind their rivals in the standings.

That’s down to Barca exploding out of the traps under new boss Hansi Flick, with the Catalan side just a point off equalling their best-ever start to a league campaign after 10 games, collecting 27 points and scoring an impressive 33 goals.

This week alone, Barcelona’s devastating attack have put five past Sevilla in the league and then netted four at home in a statement win over Flick’s former side Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Betting sites are cautious over Barcelona’s strong start though and still make Real Madrid odds-on to retain their title, with Barca a best price of 5/4.

Barcelona weren’t the only Spanish side to enjoy a rousing Champions League win over German opposition this week though with Real coming from two goals down at half-time to beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in a repeat of last year’s final.

Real are 4/1 on a handful of betting apps to win the Champions League once more after claiming a LaLiga, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup treble last season.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat Barca three times on route to their large trophy haul, part of an ongoing four-game winning run for Real in El Clasico.

Football betting sites make Real the favourites for this latest Clasico in a fixture where they could equal Barca’s record of 43 LaLiga games unbeaten. That job is made slightly harder by the news that Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo are likely to join Dani Carajval in sitting out this game, although that doesn’t diminish Real’s star power all that much.

This will be Kylian Mbappe’s first taste of a Clasico since his move to Real in the summer and his partnership with Vinicius Junior up front for Real is starting to blossom.

Behind them sits Jude Bellingham, who found the net in this fixture last year, and Luke Modric, while the likes of Arda Guler and Endrick must be content with a place on the bench.

Barcelona’s own ranks are starting to swell with quality, too, following a frustrating run of injuries with Gavi and Frenkie de Jong back in action, supporting the lethal frontline of Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, with the latter fresh from scoring a hat-trick against Bayern Munich.

We fully expect goals in this one with 54 scored between them in the league and both sides having more than 60 shots on target in 10 games.

All three Clasicos last season produced at least three goals too and all the attacking intent should lead to the corner count hitting double figures.

Cards could be plentiful too. The last 10 meetings between the sides have featured a minimum of three cards and the referee assigned to keep a measure of control, Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez, has averaged close to six cards per game in LaLiga this season.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona prediction: Over 2 goals, over 3 cards and over 10 corners - 11/4 William Hill

El Clasico is one of the biggest fixtures in world football and anyone wanting to have a bet on the action at the Bernabeu can claim a £5 free bet through LiveScore Bet.

This offer is open to new and existing customers and requires bettors to wager a minimum of £10 on any darts match taking place before El Clasico at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater.

Within one hour, LiveScore Bet will credit users with a £5 free bet they can wager on football.

New customers can also claim £30 in free bets which can all be spent on football betting through the latest LiveScore Bet sign-up offer.

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