Real Madrid and Real Betis are La Liga’s only two teams with 100% winning records. On Saturday, the two long-time rivals will clash at the Santiago Bernabeu with one team potentially going to the top of the table alone.
Saturday’s home match is Real Madrid’s first of the campaign. Due to construction on the Bernabeu, Los Blancos played their opening three matches on the road.
👀⚽️ All eyes on #RealMadridRealBetis at the Bernabéu! pic.twitter.com/LIRb93vsac— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 2, 2022
👀⚽️ All eyes on #RealMadridRealBetis at the Bernabéu! pic.twitter.com/LIRb93vsac
Real Madrid head into the weekend thanks to a matchday No. 3 win over Espanyol away 3-1. Karim Benzema is in fine form with three goals in three games for Los Blancos.
Real Betis are also perfect this season and will hope to cause a shock. There is strong belief in La Liga that one of the four Champions League places is up for grabs. Manager Manuel Pellegrini will fancy Los Verdiblancos’ chances of getting into the top four.
Striker Borja Iglesias is joint-leader in goals scored this season in La Liga. The Real Betis striker has bagged four goals which is 67% of the team’s total scoring.
On matchday No. 3, Betis won 1-0 against Osasuna at home. Just one goal has been conceded by Los Verdiblancos as the defence has played well to begin the campaign.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, have conceded three times this season. All three of Real Madrid’s matches have ended with both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals. Real Madrid have had a tendency to concede goals and Betis will hope to take advantage of defensive lapses.
Carlo Ancelotti has no fresh injury issue going into the weekend. He will be able to select from a full-strength squad at the Bernabeu.
Benzema scored twice in Real Madrid’s round No. 3 win against Espanyol. The striker will once again start centrally in attack as Ancelotti uses a 4-3-3 formation.
Pellegrini could be without up to three players ahead of the game. German Pezzella is suspended for the match, while midfielder Victor Camarasa remains a doubt due to injury. Defender Martin Montoya is ruled out until September.
Betis will use a 4-2-3-1 formation to slow down the Real Madrid attack. Pellegrini has been able to take points off of Madrid in recent season. Betis have a record of 1W-3D-2L versus Madrid in the last six games.
Real Betis have drawn their last three matches at the Bernabeu. This time, Los Verdiblancos should get a win with a shock 2-1 victory on matchday No. 4 to go top of La Liga.