Real Madrid vs. Espanyol Prediction, Picks, Live Odds - September 21

Los Blancos Are Headed to Catalonia to Face a Mediocre Espanyol Side

Real Madrid is coming off of a dominant performance in the Champions League over Celtic in their Group F opener where they won 3-0. The defending La Liga champions will not take their foot off the gas pedal as they have two massive matches coming this week. They hit the road to take on Espanyol before welcoming Real Betis to the Bernabeu on Saturday. Espanyol played their first Champions League match in over a decade on Tuesday. The match did not go as planned and they fell to Ferencvaros 3-1.

Carlo Ancelotti will look to start Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger together at the centerback position. Militao has been dealing with a minor muscle injury. David Alaba has been ruled out with a muscle concern. Karim Benzema missed Real's Champions League opener with a muscle problem, but the Ballon d'Or winner is expected to play on Sunday. Fede Valverde has also been ruled out with a knock.

Espanyol Are Coming Off a Disappointing Loss

Espanyol have lost back-to-back games in all competitions and currently sit in 16th place in the La Liga table. Manager Diego Martinez will look to get his team back on track on Sunday at the RCDE Stadium against a Real Madrid team that has won four of the last five meetings between the two sides.

The biggest issue for the Pericos is that they have not been able to win a game at home in their last five attempts in all competitions. They will look to change that against a Real Madrid team that has failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last five away matches.

Picks and Prediction

Real are the heavy favorites in this matchup on the road. They have a number of injuries and have not been in dominant form for a few matches. Los Blancos are an entirely different team when Benzema is healthy and he is expected to play on Sunday. Espanyol will likely bunker down and try and counter. Real's attack is too potent for Espanyol to hang on.

Pick: Real Madrid (-1.5) -130

Prediction: Real Madrid 3, Espanyol 0