Carlo Ancelotti may raise an eyebrow at Real Madrid’s recent defensive record
Real Madrid may have to win a shootout in France this evening, reckons Tobias Gourlay
In Barcelona last night, the hosts strolled to a 5-0 win over Young Boys that left us short on one side of Barcelona-BTTS bet.
We’ve followed Barca’s greatest rivals to France tonight for their second outing in their favourite competition. Real Madrid started their campaign with a 3-1 win at home to Stuttgart a couple of weeks ago and are favourite to trouser another three points in Lille this evening.
Since that win over Stuttgart, both teams have scored in all three of Real’s La Liga outings: 4-1 and 3-2 home wins backed up by a 1-1 draw with Atletico in the weekend’s Madrid derby.
Real have conceded in 3/4 Liga away games this term. On the road in the group stage of this competition since 2022, Real have conceded in 5/6 away games – only shutting out Celtic back in September 2022.
Since losing their CL opener 2-0 at Sporting Lisbon, Lille have scored six times in two Ligue 1 outings. Canadian striker Jonathan David has got four of those goals, including a hat-trick against Le Havre at the weekend, and could be worth a punt in the Player To Score market.
Today, their up against a Real team that won’t have Thibaut Courtois in goal. Diego Lunin, last seen looking shaky between the sticks for Ukraine at Euro 2024, is set to make his first start of the season.
