La Liga leaders Real Madrid will be searching for their 18th straight victory in all competitions when they host Celta Vigo and no doubts los Blancos are hot favourites for the win. Nevertheless, having shocked Barcelona at Camp Nou, the Sky Blues will give their best to claim another major scalp and make the title chase even more interesting.

Relentless Real Madrid

Even with so many star players at his disposal, it was never going to be easy to get Real Madrid playing to their potential and Carlo Ancelotti has got to be given credit for turning los Blancos into a well-oiled machinery. Under his guidance, los Merengues have played their best football in years and are now on an unbelievable 17-match winning run on all fronts. This has seen the team secure the first place in their Champions League group as well as create a two-point advantage over Barcelona in La Liga, so the only question now is how long can they continue the rich vein of form. Versatility of players like James Rodriguez and Isco has ensured the team coped brilliantly each time one or more star players were missing and Luka Modric is not being sorely missed at the moment. Real Madrid have turned on the style in their home games in La Liga, winning last four, scoring 18 goals in the process, although the fact they conceded in three of those matches is enough to suggest Celta will have enough chances to score at least one goal at Santiago Bernabeu.

Isco is unlikely to feature as his one-match ban looks set to be upheld, while Sami Khedira, Raphael Varane and Luka Modric are out injured.

Celta won at Camp Nou

Even if they are currently going through a rough patch, Celta Vigo have done pretty well this season, with new coach Eduardo Berizzo enjoying a good start to his career at Balaidos. The attacking trio of Orellana, Larrivey and Nolito has made life difficult for opposition defenders, with the Sky Blues proving lethal on the counter. Such an approach produced excellent result when Celta played Barcelona at the Camp Nou, with La Masia graduate Nolito scoring the only goal of the game to secure a brilliant win for his side. This is exactly what the Sky Blues will be looking to do at Santiago Bernabeu and while they look unlikely to stop red-hot Real in their tracks, I can see them scoring a goal or two in what is likely to be a high-scoring loss. Celta have been on the downtrend since said win at Camp Nou, sharing spoils with Granada before losing next three matches in all competitions, but finding motivation to test their skills against some of world’s best footballers is unlikely to be the problem for the visitors.

A number of first team regulars will be recalled after they were rested in midweek, but Fabian Orellana is a major injury doubt and Borja Oubina is a long-term casualty.

Verdict

High-flying Real Madrid can be trusted to extend the brilliant run of results with yet another convincing victory at home, but I don’t think the hosts will be able to keep a rare clean sheet. Celta have proved to be very dangerous on the break and having defeated Barcelona on the road, surely they can score at least once at the Bernabeu.

Top pick: Both teams to score   1.89 (8/9) @ Unibet

Alternative pick 1: Home win + both teams to score   2.30 (13/10) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 2: Ronaldo to score   1.40 (2/5) @ Betfred