La Liga Tips: Real Madrid to win big against Mallorca

Dan Fitch is banking on Real Madrid's fine form continuing against Mallorca, as he previews Wednesday's La Liga matches.

Another dominant win for Real Madrid

Real Madrid 1.17 v Mallorca 22.00; The Draw 8.80
Wednesday 24 June, 21:00
Live on LaLigaTV and Betfair Live Video

Real Madrid went top of La Liga on Sunday and will expect to preserve their advantage over Barcelona when they host Mallorca on Wednesday.

Barcelona's draw with Sevilla gave Real Madrid the chance to move level on points by winning Sunday's match with Real Sociedad. Zinedine Zidane's side did just that, with a 2-1 victory. Their superior head-to-head record against Barcelona (P2 W1 D1) ensures that Madrid lead La Liga with eight games of the season remaining.

Zidane sprung some surprises with his selection in an away match against a team as capable as Sociedad, rotating his side to give starts to the likes of Vinicius Junior and James Rodriguez. It was Vinicius that provided the breakthrough when he was brought down in the box just after half-time, giving Sergio Ramos the opportunity to convert from the penalty spot.

Madrid then had two refereeing decisions go in their favour, as Sociedad had a goal disallowed and Karim Benzema's strike in the 70th minute, was deemed to be legal, amidst confusion over whether it hit his shoulder or arm. Regardless of whether it was a foul or not, it was another fine strike from Benzema, who is emerging as Madrid's key performer in the title race.

It will be interesting to see whether Zidane goes back to selecting a full-strength side in this match, or will continue to make use of the multiple options in his squad. Mallorca are in the relegation zone and on paper are among the weaker opponents that Madrid have still to face, so perhaps we should expect more changes, with Ramos unlikely to start having picked up an injury against Sociedad.

Whatever side Zidane decides upon, they should have too much for Mallorca, who were beaten 4-0 by Barcelona recently. Real Madrid are 2.10 to win both halves.

Both defences have suffered recent humiliation

Alaves 2.68 v Osasuna 3.10; The Draw 3.20
Wednesday 24 June, 18:30
Live on LaLigaTV and Betfair Live Video

Alaves come into this match off the back of a very heavy defeat, having been surprisingly thrashed 6-0 by Celta Vigo on Sunday.

While Asier Garitano's side were put at a disadvantage when Martin Aguirregabiria was sent off in the 27th minute of that match, they were already 2-0 down by that point, so can't claim it had a huge impact on the result. Alaves had beaten Real Sociedad in their previous outing, so there was little reason to suspect they would be beaten so convincingly.

Osasuna have conceded eight goals in their three games since the season restart. With neither defence showing much consistency, both teams to score looks big at 2.04.

Sociedad have quality to win at high price

Real Sociedad 2.14 v Celta Vigo 4.10; The Draw 3.30
Wednesday 24 June, 18:30
Live on LaLigaTV and Betfair Live Video

Real Sociedad's Champions League dreams are fading by the game, with no wins since the season resumed (P3 D1 L2).

There were signs of life against Real Madrid though and realistically they should finally claim a victory when they host Celta Vigo. The result that the visitors achieved against Alaves, seems like a freak occurrence that came out of nowhere, with Celta Vigo having not scored in any of their previous four games.

A couple of weeks ago Real Sociedad would have been shorter than 2.14 to beat Celta Vigo, so let's put our faith in their quality and back a home win.