Preview: Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Madrid will be aiming to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they welcome fellow capital outfit Rayo Vallecano to Bernabeu on Saturday evening.

Los Blancos, who sit third in the La Liga table, lost 1-0 to Real Betis in their last league match, while Rayo will enter the contest off the back of a 3-2 success over Racing de Santander.

Match preview

Real Madrid posted wins over Espanyol, Real Sociedad and Malaga in their first three league matches of the season, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis last time out.

Nine points from an available 12 has left Los Blancos in third spot in the La Liga table, three points behind the reigning champions Barcelona, who have been in incredible form this season.

Jose Mourinho's side will enter this match off the back of a win, though, having posted a 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in the league phase of the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Real Madrid will know that the room for error in the league this season is likely to be minimal given Barcelona's quality and how the Catalan outfit have started the campaign.

Los Blancos have won 34 and lost just seven of their previous 48 matches against Rayo in all competitions, scoring 121 goals in the process.

Rayo have actually held Real Madrid to draws in four of the last six La Liga meetings between the two sides, but it was 2-1 to Los Blancos in their last contest in February of this year.

Los Franjirrojos finished eighth in Spain's top flight last season, missing out on European football by a single point, and they will again be expecting to push towards the top half this term.

Benat San Jose's side have collected four points from their opening four league games of the season, which has left them in 14th position in Spain's top flight ahead of the next set of fixtures.

Rayo started their campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla before drawing 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano, and they were then beaten 5-2 by the champions Barcelona at the end of August.

San Jose's team will enter the clash at Bernabeu off the back of a win, though, having beaten Racing de Santander 3-2 on September 5 to secure a much-needed three points.

Real Madrid La Liga form:

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

Rayo Vallecano La Liga form:

Team News

Real Madrid will again be without the services of Eder Militao (muscle), Rodrygo (knee), Raul Asencio (thigh) and Ferland Mendy (hip) through injury, but Andriy Lunin should be back in the squad after missing the clash with Inter last time out through illness.

Bernardo Silva, Arda Guler and Eduardo Camavinga will be back in the squad after missing the Champions League clash with Inter through suspension.

Aurelien Tchouameni made his recovery from a muscular injury off the bench against Inter, but the Frenchman is unlikely to start here, with Bernardo set to return in midfield.

Kylian Mbappe will lead the line, with Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler expected to support the Frenchman.

As for Rayo, Augusto Batalla (leg), Jozhua Vertrouwd (hamstring), Luiz Felipe (thigh), Isi Palazon (muscle), Fran Perez (suspended) and Jorge de Frutos (suspended) are out of the contest.

Marash Kumbulla (muscle) also needs to be assessed, so the visitors to Bernabeu will be far from at full strength for this weekend's contest.

Sergio Camello has been in strong form this season, scoring five goals in four appearances, and the 25-year-old will continue in the final third of the field.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bernardo; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe

Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:

Cardenas; Ratiu, Lejeune, Ciss, Pedrosa; Lopez, Valentin, Diaz; Tsitaishvili, Camello, A Garcia

We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Rayo Vallecano

Rayo are capable of finding the back of the net against Real Madrid on Saturday, but the home team's quality in the final third of the field should allow them to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight.

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