Will the Blancos get back on track immediately?

First, Real Madrid’s start to the season could hardly have gone any better. The Blancos won their first six competitive games in a row, were the only team in La Liga with the maximum haul of 15 points and also won the Champions League. But then the royals lost 3-1 to their city rivals Atlético Madrid in the derby on Sunday. Still, when it comes to Real Madrid against Las Palmas, betting on the Merengues to record another win in the English week is almost a no-brainer.

Just looking at the total market value of the squad, it is striking that the Spanish record champions are worth around 20 times as much as the entire squad of promoted UD Las Palmas. Moreover, the Amarillos have lost all three of their away games in La Liga by 0:1. The prognosis for Real Madrid against Las Palmas is therefore that the Blancos will be able to keep their whitewash at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Real Madrid cannot expect too much offensive resistance. UD Las Palmas have scored just two goals in six La Liga games, making them by far the weakest offensive team of all 20 first division teams. However, it is curious that the Amarillos also have the best defence (together with Bilbao) with only four goals conceded.

Consequently, a goal festival should not be expected, as the Madrilenians are lacking a top player up front anyway and will probably have to rotate against Las Palmas due to the English week with the top match against surprise team Girona ahead of them.

Real Madrid – Statistics & current form

Real Madrid secured the services of English superstar Jude Bellingham, who is in great demand throughout Europe, in the summer. However, the Blancos came up empty in their search for a new star striker and successor to Karim Benzema.

Joselu is the only nominal centre-forward in the Spanish record champion’s squad, which is why many experts assumed that the Merengues would face a very complicated season. All the more so because with Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois, several key players are missing for a long time due to injury.

Won six of seven competitive games in 2023/24

First, however, the Blancos proved those critics wrong by becoming the only team in La Liga to take the maximum 15 points out of a possible 15 from their first five games and also winning their Champions League opener against Union Berlin 1-0.

The goals were unceremoniously provided by new midfield engine Jude Bellingham, who scored six goals and set up another in his first six competitive appearances. But then came the Madrid city derby, in which the Englishman paled for 90 minutes and even got carried away with a brutal frustration foul in stoppage time, in which he was lucky to stay on the pitch.

Was the defeat in the derby just a one-off outlier?

The prize question for the Royals now is how to classify the 3-1 defeat at their city rivals, which led to their fall from first to third in the table. Was it merely a one-off lapse? Or was there always a bit of luck involved in the first six competitive victories of the 2023/24 season?

The new week will provide the answers, because after the home game against the promoted Gran Canaria, where a three-goal win is a must, the Merengues also have an away game at surprise runners-up Girona. If the Blancos can win at home to Real Madrid against Las Palmas on Wednesday evening, that would be the first step in the right direction.

Predicted Real Madrid line-up:

Real Madrid (Official line-up) 4-3-1-2

Las Palmas – Statistics & current form

Unión Deportiva Las Palmas is based in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The most successful club on the third largest Canary Island, which is only about 50 kilometres in diameter, was founded in August 1949 from a merger of five clubs.

Although the club has yet to win a title, the Amarillos (the yellow ones) have already played 34 seasons in La Liga, to which the club, often given the sonorous nickname “Pio Pio”, returned this summer after a four-year absence.

On Sunday, the first three-pointer after promotion was achieved

The Amarillos have not yet really arrived in the top flight of Spanish football. On the first matchday, Las Palmas scored on their home debut (1-1 against Mallorca). But this was followed by four winless league games in a row, in which the promoted team did not score a single goal.

It wasn’t until last weekend that Francisco Javier García Pimienta’s side finally celebrated their first victory, winning 1-0 at home to Granada despite being shorthanded for just over half an hour thanks to a last-minute goal from Kirian Rodríguez in stoppage time.

Despite minimalist football already five points out of a possible 18

It is worth noting the minimalist football that the promoted team, which definitely has a certain limitation in terms of play, has displayed so far. Just two goals scored – by far the lowest figure in the entire La Liga – have already been enough for five out of a possible 18 points.

This was made possible by the fact that Pio Pio, with only four goals conceded in six league games, has the best defence in La Liga (with Bilbao). Nevertheless, the odds on Real Madrid winning another point against Las Palmas are bad. The Gran Canaria side have lost all three of their away games so far by 0:1.

Predicted Las Palmas line-up:

Las Palmas (Official line-up) 4-5-1

Real Madrid – Las Palmas Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

Head to head: 47 – 15 – 8

There have been a total of 70 meetings between the two teams and with 47 wins, Real Madrid lead the head-to-head comparison very clearly with a win ratio of 67.1%. The Blancos are currently unbeaten in seven encounters with the Amarillos (five wins, two draws) and recorded 3-0 victories both home and away in their most recent meetings, which date back to the 2017/18 La Liga season.

Real Madrid – Las Palmas Tip

In all clarity, the betting odds on Real Madrid against Las Palmas swing in the direction of the home-strong Merengues, who alone weigh in at 20 times the total market value of their opponents today. The currently injured regular keeper Thibaut Courtois alone is worth roughly what all 26 players in the visitors’ senior squad would cost together. It would be hard to describe the role of favourites for the Royals more clearly, who also won the last two meetings against the Amarillos with 3:0 in each case.

Las Palmas have also lost all three of their away games in the young 2023/24 La Liga season without scoring a goal of their own. In fact, the promoted team has only scored two goals in the season. Our prediction for a win for the Blancos against Las Palmas is accordingly consistent