Preview: Alaves vs Real Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Madrid will be aiming to bounce back from successive defeats when they resume their La Liga campaign with a clash against Alaves at Campo de Futbol de Mendizorrotza on Sunday.

Los Blancos are currently second in the La Liga table, four points behind the leaders Barcelona, while Alaves are 11th, boasting 18 points from their opening 15 matches of the campaign.

Match preview

Alaves have a record of five wins, three draws and seven defeats from their 15 La Liga matches this season, with a total of 18 points leaving them in 11th position in the table.

The Basque outfit will enter this match off the back of a morale-boosting result, beating Real Sociedad 1-0 on December 6, while they also overcame Portugalete in the Copa del Rey at the start of the month, so it has been a successful December to date.

Eduardo Coudet's side finished 15th in La Liga last season, so there is clear room for improvement this term, but this is the most successful period in Alaves' history in terms of top-flight action.

Alaves have been strong on home soil this season, picking up 14 points from their eight matches, suffering only two defeats in the process, but they will be welcoming a Real Madrid side that have the best away record in the division in 2025-26.

The Blue and Whites have tackled Real Madrid on 44 previous occasions and have only managed to win five times, showing the size of their task in this weekend's contest.

Real Madrid are actually on a seven-game winning run against Alaves, while they have not lost to the Basque outfit in their own stadium since October 2018.

However, it would be fair to say that Los Blancos will not enter this match in the best place, having lost their last two matches and won just two of their eight in all competitions.

Xabi Alonso's side suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo in La Liga last weekend, and they are second in the table, four points behind the leaders Barcelona.

Real Madrid then suffered a 2-1 home loss to Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday night, and there were whistles from the supporters once the result was confirmed.

The pressure is increasing on head coach Alonso, who simply cannot afford another setback here, so it is arguably the biggest match since the Spaniard's arrival as head coach.

Real Madrid did manage to record a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in their last away match in the league, and Alonso will be looking for a similar performance on Sunday.

Alaves La Liga form:

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Alaves form (all competitions):

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Real Madrid La Liga form:

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Real Madrid form (all competitions):

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Team News

Alaves will again be without the services of Nikola Maras (knee) and Facundo Garces (suspended) on Sunday, while Jon Guridi (knee) needs to be assessed ahead of the contest.

The home side are otherwise in strong shape, though, and considering the impressiveness of the performance and indeed result against Real Sociedad last time out, it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field for this contest.

Lucas Boye has scored three times during the 2025-26 campaign and is again expected to be given the nod in the final third of the field, while there should also be a spot in the XI for former Barcelona attacker Denis Suarez.

As for Real Madrid, Dani Carvajal (knee), Ferland Mendy (muscle), Trent Alexander-Arnold (thigh), Eder Militao (hamstring), Endrick (suspended), Fran Garcia (suspended) and Alvaro Carreras (suspended) are all definitely out of the contest.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Camavinga (ankle), David Alaba (muscle), Dean Huijsen (discomfort) and Kylian Mbappe (knee) need to be assessed before final decisions can be made.

Huijsen was back in training on Friday and could start, but no risks will be taken with Mbappe, who missed the Man City contest on Wednesday due to a troublesome knee issue.

Jude Bellingham could operate behind a front two of Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior, while Raul Asencio may be moved across to left-back due to the team's significant defensive absences.

Alaves possible starting lineup:

Sivera; Otto, Tenaglia, Pacheco, Parada; Guevara; Calebe, Ibanez, Suarez, Rebbach; Boye

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Valverde, Rudiger, Huijsen, Asencio; Guler, Tchouameni, Ceballos; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius

We say: Alaves 1-2 Real Madrid

Alaves' record against Real Madrid cannot be ignored when it comes to picking a result here - we are expecting it to be close in terms of the scoreline, but Los Blancos should be able to navigate their way to a hugely important three points on Sunday night.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.