Real Madrid stars celebrate after scoring a goal against Espanyol in a Copa del Rey match last year. (Photo : Reuters)
RCD Espanyol (1-1-0, 3 points) will host perennial contender Real Madrid (1-0-1, 4 points) in the third week of 2015-2016 La Liga action on Saturday at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat in Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain.
The Parakeets have a decent start this season with a 1-0 home win over Getafe CF on opening day, but stumbled on the road versus Villarreal CF, 1-3, on August 28.
Ecuadorian forward Felipe Caicedo provided the lone goal for Sergio González's squad, but the Yellow Submarine came in with more firepower from Congolese forward Cédric Bakambu, who scored a double for Villarreal, via Goal.
Real is coming off a huge 5-0 thumping of Real Betis on August 29 to bounce back from a disappointing goalless draw against Sporting de Gijón during their opener.
Wingers Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez had two goals apiece while striker Ken Benzema had one to pull off the rout as new manager Rafael Benitez enjoyed his first Bernabéu game with a victory for Los Blancos, as reported by BBC Sport.
Benitez was reportedly ecstatic with the win after opening his tenure with the Meringues in an upsetting fashion. The only surprise of the game was that Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo played but did not contribute in the scoreboard.
The prediction is a 5-1 romp of Real Madrid over Espanyol. Benitez and his crew will display another fine performance this time on the road with Ronaldo finally getting his first goal of the season.
RCD Espanyol starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Sabata; Arbilla, Alvaro, Arenas, Duarte; Montanes, Sanchez, Rios, Alvarez; Caicedo, Gerard
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Navas; Danilo, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modrić, Kroos; Rodriguez, Bale, Ronaldo; Benzema
